The Last Crimes of Charles Mistinguett — James L. Ross

Praise from Publishers Weekly: "Charming thriller . . . chases across Europe and tightly written gun battles. A delight for anyone who enjoys French crime cinema from the 1970s." And from Booklist: "This slick thriller combines the noirish cool of French cinema (think Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai) with an almost jaunty, witty charm (Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief and Charade). Stylishly written and cleverly plotted crime fiction." Charles Mistinguett, the French-Algerian narrator of James L. Ross's newest novel, is a retired criminal living on the Cote d'Azur who wants nothing more than to be left alone to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. He would never claim to be innocent of all things, only of the charges laid against him by the French government: murder, extortion, terrorism--useful lies if agents of the state plan to execute a man without trial. James L. Ross's debut novel Long Pig was a 2012 Shamus nominee for best paperback original. And reviewing Death in Budapest, Publishers Weekly declared, "Fans of hard-edged spy novels will hope that this is but the first of many from Ross . . . twists straight out of John Le Carre and] sardonic wit."