I mean, really, how could I not be pulled into a book in which chapter one begins, “Jacqueline Lee Bouvier wasn’t exactly dressed for discovering a corpse.”? A big fan of the James Bond novels with their suspense and dry wit, and various motion picture romps through Paris and other European capitals (think Hitchcock films; think Hepburn and Grant)I found this book – the first of two novels starring the intrepid, Givenchy-clad, Chanel 5-scented pre-JFK Jacqueline – in possession of all those elements and an excellent plot to boot. The adventure, not to mention the romantic tension between Jacques and Jacqueline (he pronounces her name Jacque-LEEN, which I love) had me staying up late en route to the back cover. I love that Jackie’s fancy was captured by Jacques, and that Jack (F. Kennedy) was just entering the picture (though of course I knew, smugly, that, in real life, she’d marry him eventually…). So many jacks-of-hearts! This book was outrageously satisfying to me, and cleverly woven with real-people characters of that time frame, including a young Francois Truffaut. I loved the descriptions of the Paris setting and the inclusions of some French in the dialogue. In fact, the only bad thing about the book was that it ended too quickly. But I’m still chuckling over the line, “As terrifying as being chased by the assassin had been, the exercise had proven to be a serendipitous calorie burner.” Oh, Jackie, you’ve made my daily workout class seem très boring! Basically, this book was just fun. It was exactly what it was supposed to be; a bit cheesy, a bit mysterious, and a bit retro. The basis, of course, is slightly ridiculous. As much as we love to imagine our debutantes have secret lives and secret goals the thought that a young Jacqueline Bouvier was in the CIA in 1951 is sort of stupid. And that they would send her on a mission to Paris with no training and no notice. But, who cares. I didn't want realism, I wanted to be amused. 'Paris to Die For' takes place in the early fifties. Jackie Bouvier has just graduated from a smattering of fabulous colleges (Vassar, the Sorbonne in exchange through Smith, and George Washington), she's had her debut and is lauded in the press for her classic look and grace, and she's bored with dating John Husted who her mother wants her to marry. So when Allen Dulles invites her to help out the fledgling CIA by cozying up to a Russian defector in Paris she jumps at the change. But, naturally, it's not as simple as all that and as the bodies start piling up Jackie must turn to her only contact in the City of Lights, a dashing photographer named Jacques Rivage. Through in an overzealous assassin, the displaced Princess of a small Middle Eastern country, a pair of annoying British hangers on, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and you have a simmering pot of just plain fun. There were, of course, the moments that were just too precious. Such as, for instance, when Jackie, escaping her would be assassin, enters the House of Dior and runs into a waifish Belgian model named Audrey Hepburn. Or when she visits the bathroom at the Cinematheque Francaise and runs into Truffaut waxing poetic about Hitchcock. Yes, we get it, and there were bound to be these interludes, but they continually left me groaning. Especially Ian Fleming. This book isn't going to be winning any awards, it's not going to change your life. It's not even especially that good, but that's not really the point, now is it? It was a quick read, fun for a little while. A great beach read. I may pick up the sequel, 'Spy in a Little Black Dress', but it wont rush to the top of my list.
What do You think about Paris To Die For (2011)?
I thought the premise was cute, but the book just ended up being okay.
—Bhuvana
Thrilling, but, at times, is too cheesy and exaggerated.
—ARC
