Today we have the mystery series featuring Hugo Marston by author Mark Pryor. You can see all the books in order at the author’s website.

With the exception of The Button Man, which is a prequel to The Bookseller, these novels are set in Paris. They feature former FBI profiler Hugo Marston who provides security for US embassies.

The first in the series is The Bookseller.

The Bookseller: The First Hugo Marston Novel* (2012)

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:  When someone kidnaps  elderly bookstall owner Max, his friend Hugo Marston can’t do anything to stop it.  As head of security at the US embassy, Marston launches a search with the help of semiretired CIA agent Tom Green.

The Crypt Thief: A Hugo Marston Novel* (2013)

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:  Two tourists have been murdered in Père Lachaise cemetery in front of Jim Morrison’s grave. In a confusing twist, the killer also stole parts of the skeleton of a dancer from another era.  When another dancer’s grave is broken into, Hugo Marston begins to wonder about the killer’s real motive.

I really like one line on page 11

He stepped out of the shadows and walked toward them, his gun parting the darkness in front of him.

The gun parting the darkness is such a great visual.

The newest by Mark Pryor:

The Sorbonne Affair: A Hugo Marston Novel* (2017)

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Hugo Marston dismisses American author Helen Hancock’s idea she’s being watched until she discovers a spy camera hidden in her room at the Sorbonne Hotel. When an hotel employee who planted the camera and one of Helen’s students are both killed, the pressure is on to find the killer before it is too late.

Positives:

Author Mark Pryor has a fascinating background. He started out as a newspaper reporter in England (among other things), but now works as an assistant district attorney in Austin, Texas. How did that happen? Plus, he has all these novels. Someone should be writing about him.

As a sucker for setting, I enjoy that the books are set in Paris, as well as London and Barcelona.

I also enjoy that books, librarians, and authors often figure prominently, from the bookseller in his first novel, to an American author in his most recent.

Negatives:

With all they have going for them, I have to admit I had a bit of difficulty getting drawn into the books. There was never a deep emotional connection. The story never went to the next level, pulling the reader along, which is too bad because the potential is there.

Overall:

Enjoyable to discover new things about the history of the areas he writes about.