Finished
Crossing the Line by
Frédérique Molay, 2nd in her Paris Homicide series starring Nico Sirsky, Unusually Young Chief of Police And His Team. This was considerably more entertaining and engaging than the 1st book, which was a pretty standard serial killer thriller. This one still had thriller elements, but of a different sort, and they played out better with a more original actual investigative mystery plot which then led to another plot (as these things do), as the police tried to figure out if a contradictory case really was a murder, and if so, how could they prove and pin it on the potential responsible parties.
Plus, it had a pleasant increase in the likeable elements that were kind of buried under all the serial killer stuff in the 1st book: namely, a strong sense of place which amounted to an historical walking tour of Paris scenery and culture, and integrated teamwork with everyone playing their part in contributing to the case-solving (and a whole bunch of forensic investigative trivia into how bodies donated for science are processed in France, if you happen to be interested). The obligatory personal relationships drama was also less annoying in this one, too.
Recommended as an enjoyable international police procedural mystery which makes good use of the setting and surrounding culture, with an interesting case behind it (even if the thriller portions seemed a little over the top, as these things do). I'm just disappointed that the English translation title didn't keep the pun of the original
Dent pour dent (A tooth for a tooth) and is kind of generically bland.