She thinks love can kill you. It turns out she might be right.
Meet Harper Brown…
Occupation: Arts journalist
Dream job: Hard-hitting news reporter
Location: Paris
Loves: True crime podcasts, art galleries, coffee, whiskey
Does not love: fake people, toxic positivity, being told how to live her life by smug workmates who have no life (that’s you, Stan), and her narcissistic ex, Harrison.
Favourite book: 1984
Favourite artist: Noah X. Sometimes.
Favourite painting: Klimt’s Schubert at the Piano
Special skills: breaking out of car boots, picking locks and escaping relationships.
Superpower: She can lose any guy in three minutes flat. Ask her how.
Secret: She’s hot on the trail of a murderer – and the scoop of a lifetime.
That’s if the killer doesn’t catch her first.
Pip Drysdale is a firm favourite here in the Better Reading office, with her last two books, The Sunday Girl and The Strangers We Know, both making our Top 100 list. It goes without saying then, that I was more than excited to get my hands on her latest thriller, The Pairs Affair, and believe me, I was not disappointed.
The Paris Affair follows aspiring news reporter Harper Brown, who, having recently scored a sweet gig as an arts journalist for The Paris Observer, is keen to prove herself as a serious writer. After covering an exhibition for enigmatic, up-and-coming artist Noah X, Harper finds herself on the hunt for a serial killer. Ambitious, bold and just a little feisty, Harper makes for a fabulous female lead, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her plunge headlong in and out of trouble.
The Paris setting looms large in the novel, but Drysdale’s Paris isn’t the picturesque, cobble-stoned city you’re used to seeing on postcards or in Instagram pictures. It’s a gritty, edgy and electrifying place that was a genuine pleasure to explore within these pages.
While the first half of the novel takes its time drawing you into this intoxicating setting – and Harper’s entertaining, if somewhat dysfunctional, life – the second half is a fast-paced and heart-stopping ride, packed with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you on your toes right to the end.
Gripping, suspenseful and seriously addictive, The Paris Affair was yet another tantalising page-turner from the wonderful Pip Drysdale. Do yourself a favour and add The Paris Affair to your TBR list, it’s the perfect summer read.
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