The Hanged Man’s Tale

At the start of Jay’s excellent sequel to 2011’s The Paris Directive, completed by his wife, son, and grandson after his death in 2020, the Paris authorities are on high alert during the 2002 Bastille Day parade, whose theme is Franco-American friendship in the wake of 9/11. While President Jacques Chirac is riding in an open car on the Champs Élysées, Police Commandant Paul Mazarelle foils an assassin trying to shoot Chirac. A few days later, the body of PI Alain Berthaud is found hanging upside down in a Paris canal tunnel with a tarot card in his jacket bearing the sign of the Hanged Man. Mazarelle investigates, and other similar murders, with the victim strangled and a tarot card of the Hanged Man left behind, follow. When he hears rumors of a major probe of police corruption, Mazarelle begins to think the case is more complex than it initially seemed. Eventually, he looks into the possibility of a link to the assassination attempt on Chirac. Combining rational twists with sophisticated characterizations, Jay (the pseudonym of Gerald Jay Goldberg) and his collaborators never sacrifice plausibility for plot surprises. News that Jay’s family plans to continue the series will please the author’s fans. Agent: Georges Borchardt, Georges Borchardt, Inc. (Dec.)