Paris is known for its beauty and romance, heralded throughout the world. Yet as with all cities there is a dark and steamy underground, where those who are just a bit more self-indulgent lurk.
In Floats the Dark Shadow by Yves Fey, we are introduced to both the beauty and the darkness that encompasses the soul of the city of love. Beginning slowly and yet just coming to the attention to the authorities, children are going missing.
The darkness begins with those who have no one to look out for them, but soon escalates as the heinous darkness of possible cult activity begins to come to light. Where are the missing children and who is behind the disappearances of those most innocent, yet also the most at risk?
Fey has given us a dark mystery, set in a beautiful yet decadent setting. He pairs an unsuspecting artist, a woman who lives on the fringe of the beauty and darkness, and pairs her with a solid and no-nonsense Detective Michel Devaux. Theodora Faraday has run across the investigation unknowingly, but is drawn in by circumstance.
The clash of temperaments and thought processes of the two who must find a way to work together are dynamic and just a bit intriguing. The poetic mindset of Theo and the insistent solidity of Detective Devaux keep the action both interesting and magnetic.
The darkness and decadence of the perpetrator, has just enough depravity and evil to set the stage for a story of horrible magnitudes. What is happening to the disappearing children, those most at risk in the dark streets of the city? Can Theo and her Detective find the answers before another tragedy occurs?
If you enjoy horror and mystery you will find this a work to look for. Fey gives us both the beauty of Paris but also the darkness and dissolution. The pairing of two totally differing personalities to find the perpetrator of the disappearances is very crafty and inventive.
This would be a great book for a reading or discussion group. There is a great deal of interesting discussion going on within the book that can be taken up by those reading it as well. Fey has taken us into a world of excess, and delivered the goods.