Title:

A Blood Red Morning

Author:

Mark Pryor

Category:

Mystery & Thriller

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

May 7, 2025
Blood Red Morning is the third book in the ongoing Detective Henri Lefort series. It is New Year's Eve, 1940, in bleak Paris ruled by the Nazis. The book begins with Chief Louis Proulx assigning a homicide case to Lefort. What's unusual is that the murder happened right outside Lefort's apartment building. But since Lefort slept right through the incident (not awakened by the gunfire), Lefort is not a potential witness. The Chief is low on capable detectives (perhaps because the Nazis have moved so many young men out of the city to toil in factories or work camps), so Henri gets the case. (I did wonder how Henri got to work that morning without walking right past the crime scene - Guy Remillon was shot at the entrance to his building.)

The first order of business is for Lefort to interview all the other tenants in his apartment building - perhaps not everyone is as sound a sleeper as himself, and they might have heard or seen something. Readers of the first two books in the series know that Lefort's sister, Nicola, shares the apartment with him, and on the floor below is Mimi - "the princess" - a direct descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte. Lefort trusts these two completely, but there are other occupants in the building to be questioned.

On the ground floor is an attractive young woman - Natalia Tsokos, new to the building, she is the concierge, taking over the role previous held by her uncle, who moved to Greece. Is it coincidence she arrives just when there is a murder?

When Lefort knocks on the door of the single woman Claire Raphael, he discovers she is "entertaining" a high ranking SS officer. Lefort tries not to judge, people do what they can to survive desperate times in wartime Paris, but the thought of a Gestapo man in his building is alarming.

The most odious character is a perpetually complaining man named Gerald Darroze. He claims to know nothing, but Natalia says she heard him throw something into the trash after the murder.

The reader learns about corbeaus, (crows), people who anonymously snitch on their neighbors to the Nazis - accusing them of black market activities, violating curfews, or being Jewish. Many of these complaints are frivolous, with angry neighbors settling long time scores against persons with whom they bear a grudge. The Nazis have found that it is best to send another Frenchman to perform the initial investigation of the complaint. Only if there is some merit in the accusation will the heavy hand of the Nazis get involved. Lefort soon discovers that the murdered man, Guy Remillon, was one of these Nazi collaborators. So plenty of reason for people to want him dead.

Complicating Lefort's investigation is that small newspapers are being printed and distributed around Paris by the French resistance. These newspapers point out the Nazi crimes and injustices. Naturally, the Nazis want these printing presses shut down and the authors captured. Lefort is assigned the role of finding these illicit printers - he tries to explain that he is a homicide detective, but the Nazis are not listening and demand immediate answers.

There is a lot to like in this story. The depictions of the oppressive Nazi rule are good, with the fear and rage that their presence causes. The French each react in their own way, everyone trying to survive another day. The mystery about who shot Remillon is also intriguing, with plenty of suspects and clues. Plus, there a plenty of harrowing scenes where Lefort is in danger, or else when he is trying to save people that he cares about from the murderous Nazis. This series is worth reading.