Fifth in the Hugo Marston series, this mystery begins in modern Paris. A young American woman goes missing, and Marston, who is a Texan, is asked to find her. Marston used to be with the FBI and now works as security for the US Embassy in Paris. Disappearing is not a crime, but the missing girl's family, friends of Marston's, are worried. THE RELUCTANT MATADOR starts with a dead body being pulled from the River Seine - an omen?

Marston's friend Tom, on and off the wagon as he recovers from his years with the CIA, helps investigate the missing girl's disappearance. Amy is nineteen, unattached, hoping to get model work and enjoy Paris. Why would she disappear? A girl friend says Amy had a business card from some Spanish man. It's not much of a lead, but it's all they've got.

I found the style easy to slip into which is very helpful as I had not read any earlier books in the series. Marston is worldly wise but concerned about his close friends. He has a sort-of relationship with a haughty reporter, Claudia, but because I'm new to the story I got her mixed up with a lady called Camille who also makes an appearance. Amy turns out to have found it easier to make money by saucy dancing in Pigalle, the nightclub area of Paris, rather than modelling. The men trace her from there to Barcelona with her Spanish contact. Whatever she's doing is her own business, but she's not using her phone or e-mail. Tom carries Marston along into the wonderful world of CIA accommodation in Barcelona.

The dead body is needed at the start to establish a feeling of tension and dread, because up to this point the men just come across as being nosey - concerned, yes, but paternally nosey. And for foreigners in both France and Spain, they are surprisingly willing to break and enter. That's when the local police get involved. While we see a good deal of life in the two countries, it's all from the point of view of Americans who chat continually about being tourists. THE RELUCTANT MATADOR is a very interesting crime story. Mark Pryor has cornered a good niche. and I will certainly be checking out his earlier works. Expect some strong language and sinister workings in THE RELUCTANT MATADOR, which investigates an unpleasant black market.

Book Summary

A nineteen-year-old aspiring model has disappeared in Paris. Her father, Bart Denum, turns to his old friend Hugo Marston for help. Marston, the security chief at the American Embassy, makes some inquiries and quickly realizes something is amiss: Bart’s daughter was not a model, but rather a dancer at a seedy strip club. And she headed to Barcelona with some guy she met at the club.

With his friend and former CIA agent, Tom Green, Marston heads for Barcelona. The two sleuths identify the man last seen with the girl, break into his house, and encounter a shocking scene: Bart Denum, standing over the dead and battered body of their mysterious stranger. Though Bart protests his innocence, under the damning circumstances, Spanish authorities arrest him for murder.

The two American investigators are faced with their biggest challenge ever: find the real killer, prove Bart’s innocence, and locate his missing daughter—without getting killed along the way.