This is a beautifully written book that gently draws you in to the world of Captain Guerin. I found the descriptive writing of the opening scene mesmerising and have now read this book 3 times already! Although number three in the series you do not need to have read the first two books to appreciate this one (I haven't - although I will be soon.)

I would recommend this to anybody interested in modern crime fiction - infact, I have already arranged to lend my member giveaway copy to several people. ( )

This is the third book in the Guerin series but the first that I have read. I have to say that of all the books that I have received through librarything as an early reviewer, this could possibly be the best of the bunch so far.
This murder mystery really draws you in and has a fantastically claustrophobic feel to it. There is real intelligence to the writing and an encyclopaedic knowledge of Paris is displayed here.

Most of the action takes place at the Opera Hose and this is not some fantastical and outlandish crime story. This is real detective work reminiscent of Columbo. The detective keeps going back to the main suspects, wearing them down and wheedling new information out of them. I was totally gripped and I do read a lot of crime novels.
My one minor gripe is the ending of the novel, I know it is really difficult to end a crime novel satisfactorily. For the main part it was done with aplomb however I just felt that a few actions from Guerin were just slightly out of character which threw me a little.

That aside I will definitely be searching out the other two Guerin novels to learn more about this complex detective who surely deserves his place in the pantheon of great crime sleuths. ( )

Review from Badelynge
Captain Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle invites us once again to sit in on his latest investigation. The Paris Opera Ballet is preparing for the premiere of a bold new Ballet based on the Greek myth of Diana and Acteon. Franck is called in when the female lead dancer is found strangled in her apartment. Like me he knows next to nothing about the world of Ballet so he has to learn fast at a time that he has to cope with absorbing all the mass of information that the first days of an investigation throws up (interviews, crime scenes, forensics, etc). It's a formula readers of the first two books will be familiar with - one that works very well I hasten to add. I'm still enjoying Franck's company and I was happy to meet a few of the recurring characters from the series again, especially Sylvie and Sonia, though there is no shortage of strong female characters in the books.
It's hard to comment on the main aspect of the book, the murder mystery itself, without giving too much away. I really hate spoilers, so I'll just say that I almost put it all together before Franck did and leave it at that. I was impressed with David Barrie's attention to detail and thorough researching of the different aspects of the story. There's nothing worse than lazy researching or sketchiness to ruin the verisimilitude. The Parisian locations are as beautifully described as ever, not least the Opera de Paris itself, with all its myriad internal locations, its architecture and history. Although it's the focal location of the book the story doesn't spend all its time there. It acts more as a central hub for the story and we still get to visit the cafes, restaurants, parks, hotels etc that surround it as well as some more further afield. The author points out things of interest, often using his characters to do it, which helps to colour the narrative without it straying into pedantry. Loved the stuff about Dumas - it really has been too long since I last engaged with those musketeers.
A very good detective story, with engaging characters, an interesting puzzle of a plot, well executed from a hidden gem of an author who seems to be hitting his stride. Recommended. ( )

In the interests of full disclosure David Barrie's publisher sent me an ARC of this book.

‘Loose-limbed’ is the third novel to feature Franck Guerin. Franck is still suspended from the DCRI (formerly the DST) and is still working for the Brigade Criminelle. Guerin’s latest murder investigation takes him into the rarefied world occupied by top ballet professionals as he investigates the murder of Sophie Duval, one of the Ballet de l'Opera de Paris’s étoiles.

This was an enjoyable read, Guerin is a likeable central character and Barrie is very good at drip feeding small snippets of Guerin’s back story to the reader. The Corsican Incident, the reason for Guerin’s suspension, may have some relevance to the investigation into Sophie Duval’s murder, but then again it may not. Paris takes a secondary role to the Opera de Paris, its architecture and decoration beautifully and lovingly evoked.

I just have one small quibble, which is, having read Barrie’s other books, I was able to guess the identity of the murderer at around the half-way point of the book, although I didn’t guess their motive until close to the end, so my enjoyment of the book was only slightly marred. ( )

The third in a series of Paris-based crime novel featuring captain Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle. Like its predecessors, Loose-Limbed takes its hero into a world of which he knows little and forces him to decode its customs and practices in order to solve the crime. The previous books did this with upmarket lingerie (Wasp-Waisted) and high-end perfume (Night-Scented). This time around the focus is on ballet, and more specifically on the inner workings of the Ballet de l'Opera de Paris, one of the world's finest companies (I add the "one of" to avoid raising any hackles, but as far as the French are concerned it is THE world's finest company).

As I wrote this book, I will avoid saying too much about it. It marks a slight divergence from its predecessors due to the fact that rather than wandering all over Paris it focuses on one location: the 19th century Opera House built by Charles Garnier (well-known to anyone who has read or seen The Phantom of the Opera). Another novelty is the fact that it allows us a peek at Franck Guerin's personal life. That aside, it is driven by the same obsession: create an intricate plot, populate it with a wide range of characters, and put the reader directly in the shoes of the hero so that they share the same information and the same chance of solving the crime before someone else gets killed.

The publisher has put up a dedicated web site (www.looselimbed.com) which offers a free look at the opening chapter and has photos of all the locations in Paris featured in the tale. Worth a look.