<DIV><p>Praise for the Aimée Leduc series:</p> <p>&ldquo;The buzz . . . is partly about her heroine&rsquo;s hip, next-generation, cutting-edge investigations and partly about Paris, a setting of unrivaled charm.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Houston Chronicle</I></p> <p>&ldquo;If the cobblestones could talk, they might tell a tale as haunting as the one Cara Black spins.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The New York Times Book Review</I></p> <p>&ldquo;Will have readers on pins and needles.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>San Francisco Chronicle</I></p> <p>&ldquo;One of the best new writers in the field today.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Publishers Weekly</I> (starred review)</p> <p>&ldquo;Conveys vividly those layers of history that make the stones of Paris sing for so many of us.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Chicago Tribune</I></p> <p>&ldquo;With its sights, sounds, and colorful past, it&rsquo;s a particularly eventful and involving Paris visit.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Los Angeles Times</I></p> <p>Spirited Aimée Leduc, a private investigator based in Paris, has been introduced to the Cao Dai temple by her partner, René, who urges her to learn to meditate as a counterbalance to her frenetic lifestyle. A Vietnamese nun asks her for a favor&mdash;to hand over a check and bring a package back to the temple. But this act of kindness ends in a stranger&rsquo;s death and leaves her with a bullet wound in the arm, a check for 50,000 francs and a trove of ancient jade artifacts whose provenance is a mystery.</p> <p>The French secret service, a group of veterans of the war in Indochina, some wealthy ex-colonials, and contending international oil companies all claim the jade. They will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. And the nun has disappeared.</p> <p>Aimée has promised to avoid danger, but it continues to seek her out.</p><p>For more information, visit </p></DIV>