A series of books bY CLAUDE iZNER.
Murder on the Eiffel tower and followed by other locations.
These are called a Victor Legris mystery.
Legris is an antique bookseller in 1893 France when the Eiffel Tower is first built and he has the dangerous hobby of amatuer sleuthing
interesting to know is that Claude Izner is the pen name
of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefevre.
Both are booksellers on the banks of the Seine and are experts on nineteenth-century Paris

Misha, Kwoo, and others - also saw MIDNIGHT IN PARIS twice. May I suggest another oldie, but goodie, movie? THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS.

Set after WWII with an excellent caste including Elizabeth Taylor in her heyday. She was gorgeous!

Nearly every espionage novel by Alan Furst is set largely in Paris in the 1930s and '40s.

The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Notre Dame de Paris, Les Miserables . . .

Not fiction but Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon is perfect.

Another non-fiction:

Is Paris Burning? Larry Collins and Dominique La Pierre

Hub and I sat in Montparnasse and talked about what Paris must have been like during WWII and hub suggested how lucky we all were that it wasn't burned to the ground. The above talks about it. Riveting, even to this non-history person.

I loved Gopnik's and McCullough’s as well. Oh, and Julia's is pure charm. Sigh!

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" by Lynn Sheene---loved it.
Same title by Elizabeth Adler

Both fiction

I like historical fiction also and thought of a couple and then I like to visit and see the sites first hand.

- The Secret Diary of Marie Antoinette - then see Versailles and The Concierge

- The Lady and the Unicorn - then see the Unicorn tapestries at the Cluny
- To the Scaffold - about Marie Antoinette

Not historical fiction, but:
- All of the Cara Black mysteries

I have to say that a lot of these historical books are going to set a visitor up for something that will never be seen or experienced.

I would recommend reading modern books before a trip to Paris because they will correspond more to the experience of the trip, and then historical books can be read later once interest has been piqued in some of the historical places seen during the visit.

Another recommendation for Fred Vargas, a French female author who is an archeologist and writer of excellent detective novels. However, they do not take place exclusively in Paris.

Nor does real life. :-)

My first Paris/French fiction addiction was Georges Simenon, Maigret mysteries. Can't wait to try a pastis!

Freda, I love Pastis, had my first for the season because it's hot here today. I named my dog Pastis. My favorite brand is not available here, PASTIS 51.

Vanina Marsot's <i>French Tongue; A Novel of Life and Love in Paris</i> would appear to be one of the more interesting of the genre (and not only for the rude bits) -

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr...ment/et-book25

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...foreign-tongue

Nancy Pearl's <i>Book Lust To Go; Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers</i> has reading recommendations for more than 120 destinations around the world, including Paris of course.