Thrilling adventures abound in Cara Black’s novels, filled with mystery and taking place in historical times. We have listed all of her books in order so that you can find what appeals to you.
Cara Black published her first novel in 1999, and since then she has written over 20 books, many of which have been New York Times and USA Today bestsellers. She is best known for her Aimée Leduc Investigations series but also has 2 books in the Kate Rees series that she started in 2020.
Black was born in Chicago but moved to California’s Bay Area when she was 5 years old. She’s worked in many different places, including teaching English in Japan, pouring drinks at a bar in Bangkok, and being a barista in Switzerland.
Black met her husband while studying Chinese history in Tokyo, then got her teaching credential in San Francisco and became a preschool director.
Black says that these jobs have taught her many different things, and the Aimée Leduc books all have parts inspired by her many experiences.
All Cara Black Books In Order
Aimée Leduc Investigations Books
Murder in the Marais (1999)
Aimée Leduc is a Parisian Private Investigator who is only interested in doing tech investigations, not wanting to get invested in criminal cases. This is partly due to her father’s death, which occurred in the line of duty while he was working as a police officer.
But when an elderly Jewish man brings Aimée a new decoding job for a woman in his synagogue, the detective doesn’t realize what she is in for. When she drops off her findings at the woman’s house, Aimée finds her strangled with a swastika carved on her forehead.
Murder in the Maraisfollows Aimée as she solves the murder, determined to avenge the woman even if it leads her into dangerous territories.
Murder in Belleville (2000)
In Murder in Belleville, a past client calls Aimée Leduc for help. Aimée doesn’t have much time to help Anaïs, but Anaïs insists that she is in danger. Aimée shows up right when a car bomb explodes, injuring Anaïs and killing another woman.
Anaïs has no idea why this happened, so she gets Aimée on the job. As Aimée looks into the dead woman’s past, she realizes that the woman might not even be close to who Anaïs thought she was. And as an Algerian rights activist stages a protest against new immigration laws, Aimée starts wondering if the woman’s death could’ve been an act of terrorism.
Murder in the Sentier (2002)
In Murder in the Sentier, Aimée Leduc gets a call from Jutta Hald, a woman who says she once shared a jail cell with Aimée’s mother, who was a suspected terrorist. Aimée wants to learn more about her mom, so she arranges to meet with Jutta in an ancient tower. But when Aimée arrives, she finds that Jutta is dead.
Now Aimée is not only trying to solve what happened in her mother’s life, but she’s also solving Jutta’s murder. Soon she realizes that she’s walked into a dangerous situation, and she must watch out for herself very carefully before someone else gets hurt.
Murder in the Bastille (2003)
When Aimée Leduc goes out for dinner with a difficult client, she is embarrassed to find that she’s wearing the same jacket as a woman from another table. When the woman leaves her phone at the table, Aimée follows her in an attempt to return it.
But before she can get the chance, Aimée is attacked. She wakes up and finds that she’s been blinded, then learns that the woman at the other table was murdered that same night.
Murder in the Bastillefollows Aimée as she solves a new crime, this time without her vision.
Murder in Clichy (2005)
When Aimée Leduc’s partner, René Friant, convinces her to meditate, she begins learning to have a more healthy life with a Vietnamese nun named Linh. When Linh asks Aimée for a favor, Aimée ends up in the Clichy Quartier to exchange an envelope for a package.
But when the person it was meant for is shot and killed in Aimée’s arms, things get menacing in an instant. The murderer wants what Aimée has in that package, and they will do anything to get it.
Murder in Clichyis another story of mystery and danger as Aimée works to solve a mystery before things get even more out of hand.
Murder in Montmartre (2006)
Murder in Montmartrefollows Aimée Leduc, who decides to go out for drinks with her police officer friend, Laure, after Aimée’s boyfriend breaks up with her. Then Jacques, Laure’s patrol partner, interrupts the two women and takes Laure away to discuss something urgent.
Aimée goes outside to look for them when they don’t come back, and she finds Jacque dead from a gunshot wound and Laure passed out on a rooftop. The police arrive and arrest Laure for murder, but Aimée is determined to uncover the real truth about what happened.
Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (2007)
When Aimée Leduc finds an abandoned baby in the courtyard of her building, she immediately searches for the mother. She may be working on an assignment with a strict deadline, but she just can’t ignore this case.
Murder on the Ile Saint-Louisfollows Aimée through the dangerous search for the baby’s mother. A dead body has washed up in the Seine and environmental protests are leading to bomb threats in the city. When Aimée realizes these events are connected, it’s only the beginning to unravel this mystery once and for all.
Murder in the Rue de Paradis (2008)
In Murder in the Rue de Paradis, Aimée Leduc has just signed a new contract at work that will make her a lot of money when her ex-boyfriend shows back up in town. Yves tells her that he’s there to stay this time and proposes that night.
But the next morning, Yves is gone. Aimée is angry at him and heartbroken until she finds out that he was murdered, and suddenly she is heartbroken for a different reason. She doesn’t believe that the police are doing the case justice, so Aimée takes it into her own hands, intent on finding the person who killed her fiancé.
Murder in the Latin Quarter (2009)
When a woman shows up in Aimée’s office claiming to be her half-sister, Aimée is ecstatic. She’s never had siblings, and since her mother’s disappearance and her father’s death, she hasn’t had much family.
Murder in the Latin Quarterfollows Aimée’s experience with her new sister, but soon Aimée is involved in a risky situation that soon leads to murder.
Murder in the Palais Royal (2010)
In Murder in the Palais Royal, Aimée Leduc is getting ready to go to New York City when her partner, René, is almost killed by a gunshot. Aimée is worried about René and his condition, and when she becomes the main suspect in his case, she is shocked.
Matters get more complicated when money shows up in Aimée’s firm’s bank account that she didn’t add. Aimée believes that someone is impersonating her, and she just needs to find out who…and why.
Murder in Passy (2011)
The neighborhood of Passy is where most of the wealthy people in Paris live, and it wouldn’t be a place where you would expect murder to occur. But that quickly changes in Murder in Passy.
Aimée Leduc’s godfather, Morbier, wants her to check on his girlfriend in Passy. It’s there that Aimée finds a man strangled in the girlfriend’s garden. Morbier becomes the prime suspect, but Aimée knows that it wasn’t him and she begins searching for the real killer, determined to make them pay.
Murder at the Lanterne Rouge (2012)
Aimée Leduc’s business partner René has finally found a girlfriend, and though Aimée is happy for him, she also has doubts. When his girlfriend Meizi disappears during dinner and doesn’t come back, someone is found dead just minutes later—and the murdered man has a photo of Meizi in his wallet.
Murder at the Lanterne Rougefollows Aimée as she works to solve the mystery of who the man was and how he may be connected to Meizi’s disappearance. But France’s secret service was watching the dead man, and now that Aimée is on the case, they’re never too far away from her, either.
Murder Below Montparnasse (2013)
In Murder Below Montparnasse, private investigator Aimée Leduc is hired by Yuri, an elderly Russian man, to protect a priceless painting that he has. But things get disturbing when Yuri is tortured to death and the painting goes missing.
Aimée rushes to solve the case, and as more bodies pile up, she can’t stop wondering what makes this painting worth killing for.
Murder in Pigalle (2014)
In Murder in Pigalle, it’s June of 1998 and Paris is hot as ever in the summer. Aimée Leduc is five months pregnant and trying to lead a slower and safer life now that she’ll be taking care of someone else too. But when a 13-year-old girl goes missing and her parents go to Aimée for help, she knows she can’t say no.
A rapist has been going around town, and as Aimée searches for the girl, she hopes that this horrible man has nothing to do with this case.
Murder on the Champ de Mars (2015)
Aimée Leduc has recently had a baby and already has it rough juggling between new motherhood and running her detective agency. But then a boy approaches her saying that his dying mother knows something about Aimée’s father’s unsolved murder case.
Murder on the Champ de Marsfollows Aimée as she goes to hear what the woman knows and finds that the woman is missing. It turns out that her secret was even more dangerous than her son thought, but Aimée is determined to find her before it’s too late.
Murder on the Quai (2016)
Murder on the Quaitakes us back to 1989, when a young Aimée Leduc is in her first year of medical school living with her father. But though things seem to be going okay, they suddenly change in an instant.
Someone has sabotaged Aimée’s lab, and now she’s at risk of failing out of school. Then she learns that her boyfriend is engaged to someone else. THEN her dad goes on a mysterious errand, leaving her to run the detective agency while he’s gone. But what seems to be an inconvenience quickly turns interesting as Aimée finds herself solving her first case—and enjoying it.
Three Hours in Parisfollows Kate Rees, an American markswoman who has just been given a dangerous new assignment by British intelligence. She is supposed to go to Paris and assassinate Hitler, and she doesn’t have much formal spy training.
Kate’s husband and daughter were recently killed in a bombing, leaving her stricken with grief. This mission is Kate’s chance to put her anger to use and do something that would make a difference. But when the mission goes wrong, Kate finds herself in a deadly situation.
Night Flight to Paris (2023)
Night Flight to Paristakes place in 1942, 2 years after Kate Rees was sent to assassinate Hitler. Now, Kate is working as a sharpshooting instructor in Scotland. But when Colonel Stepney reaches out, Kate finds herself back in Paris.
She is on a new mission that involves delivering an illegal package, assassinating a German operative, and saving a British agent who once saved Kate herself. Kate’s assignment is constantly bringing along new twists and turns, but she is up for the challenge.
FAQs
Do you have to read Aimee Leduc’s Investigations books in order?
Each book in the Aimee Leduc series is a different story that can be read as a standalone, but to get the best reading experience and understand the character development, it’s still recommended to read them in order of publication date.
Does Cara Black still write books?
Cara Black’s most recent book was published in March 2023, and she doesn’t plan to stop writing anytime soon.
What genre are Cara Black’s books?
Cara Black mainly writes mystery and thriller novels that can also be classified as historical fiction.
Freya grew up in Portland Oregon and still resides there now. She has been reading for as long as she can remember, and loves that books allow you to escape into someone else’s reality for a little while. When she is not writing or reading she enjoys playing piano, baking, and going outside.
