Mute Witness

Starred review from May 1, 2001
The bar for historical mysteries has just been raised, thanks to this masterly debut novel. Set in late 18th-century London and France, this is the story of a young woman's search for the truth in a society where appearance is all. Sadler's Wells actress Anne Cartier is anxious to leave London, where a rejected suitor threatens her bodily harm. She moves to Paris to continue her second career working with the deaf, and to investigate the reported murder/suicide of her much-loved actor stepfather, Antoine Dubois. The affair of the queen's necklace has distracted the Paris police from fully investigating the deaths of Antoine and his actress friend, but Anne finds evidence of the victims' having been involved in something much larger than a lovers' squabble. She seeks the aid and protection of Colonel Paul de Saint-Martin of the royal highway patrol, who's looking into a series of thefts from the chateaux surrounding Paris. Their attempts to find answers are hampered by not only the criminals but also a system corrupted by venality and the right of noble privilege. At the same time, their own tenuous relationship is threatened by the stratified society of patronage and privilege in which they live. This is a truly wonderful first novel elegantly written, complex in both its characters and its plotting, and wearing the author's scholarship and erudition lightly. O'Brien, a retired history professor, deserves a strong following both among mystery readers and readers of novels in the tradition of Charles Palliser. This is great stuff; please, may we have more?

May 1, 2001
What begins as a deceptively simple mystery--Who killed Anne Cartier's actor stepfather?--becomes an increasingly complex story enriched by its setting, Paris in 1786. Anne, also a performer, is brought to Paris from London by the handsome Colonel Saint-Martin at the behest of a patron of Anne's family. Determined to learn the circumstances surrounding Antoine's death, Anne becomes enmeshed in the Paris theatrical scene and the dark shadows that surround it. While some authors would be content with one backdrop, O'Brien expertly weaves in another. Anne has parlayed her skills as an actress into a second profession: she is also a teacher of the deaf, employing methods she has learned in England and perfects in France. Her two skills dovetail neatly as she strives to solve not one but several murders and reveal the identity of a jewel thief as well. The plot is as circuitous as the streets of Paris, with something interesting lurking around every corner. The bold actress/teacher makes an intriguing heroine, and the pre-revolution period proves particularly hospitable as the backdrop for a mystery series. An auspicious debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)