The Ghosts of Paris (A Billie Walker Novel)

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After she died in nearby Rouen, the tales goes, she returned to the Abbey to roam it for eternity, emerging on moonlit nights to drift among the ruins. Why she would do so is unclear, since she was in fact buried in a chapel at Rouen Cathedral.

Edna Ryan Award - ‘Grand Stirrer Award’ for making a feminist difference by speaking out for women and children, for a significant contribution to feminist debate and inciting others to challenge the status quo A thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in postwar London and Paris, in which a search for a missing husband puts investigator and former war reporter Billie Walker on a collision course with an underground network of Nazi criminals. I very much enjoyed this historical mystery, especially the sights and sounds of post war London and Paris. Descriptions of the fashions, the cars and the hotels (the Strand Palace and the Ritz) are also full of historical detail. Billie and Sam’s trip on the Qantas Lancastrian service was fascinating to read about. It was considered the fast way to get to Europe (along with the mail) with only three days of travel from Sydney to London with six stops along the way, although several days rest afterwards are required to get over the headache from the noise and vibration of the plane! With Billie and Sam exploring both the highs and lows of Paris life, this is a fun and thrilling read with plenty of action, sleuthing and a little romance. Solve riddles, puzzles, and quizzes as you uncover the most haunted places in Paris together with the real-life stories of their current eternal residents.

In 1786, cemeteries around the city started to be emptied, beginning with Les Innocents. Their former residents were transported across the city and lowered up-to five stories below ground level to their new home at the catacombs of Paris. It took an incredible 12 years to move all the bodies. As the city of Paris developed into its role as a major European power its growing population and the demand for resources caught up with it. By the 18th century, so many people had lived and died in the French capital that its cemeteries were overflowing. In a bid to bury the city’s growing population of the dead, gravediggers would bury corpse on top of corpse on top of corpse. This continued to the point that there was not enough soil to cover the bodies of the dead and so often these decaying corpses became exposed to the naked eye. Eventually, city officials decided to reopen the centuries-old tunnels, that had existed beneath the streets of Paris since the 13th century, to use them as a resting place for the city’s dead. Originally excavated when limestone quarries were mined under the city in the centuries before, this intricate network of tunnels soon became home to the bones of over 6 million Parisians and thus the Paris Catacombs came to be. Find out the city’s spookiest mysteries and violent history with Ghosts, Mysteries, and Legends Night Walking Tour of Paris. This tour will also take you to places with known haunted presence, such as Palais du Justice and Place de la Vert Gallant. Test your courage and visit a tunnel that’s lined with about 6 million real skulls and bones in Paris Catacombs Skip the Line Walking Guided Tour. An expert will also accompany you for some storytelling as to how this skeleton-filled tunnel came to be. Solve the “Mona Lisa of the Seine” murder mystery case as you work on several clues by booking the Mona Lisa’s Murder Night Game. This little-known castle, built between the 14th and 15th centuries, stands in Vienne in southwestern France, in the region known as Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Looming atop a high cliff and overlooking a steep valley, it has all the “proper” attributes of a haunted house (although its landscaping is a bit too tidy for the ghosts to hide in).

Learn about violence, diseases, mass murders and occult events that used to be a part of an ordinary day in the French capital.The murder didn’t occur at the chateau, but instead at a farm (ostensibly nearby). Nevertheless, local legends claim that her apparition emerges on particularly stormy nights, and that the ghost has a predilection for haunting the chapel tower. More Strange and Disturbing French Stories Three stations have remained closed since 1939: Arsenal ( line 5), Champ de Mars ( line 8), and Croix-Rouge ( line 10). [4] Ever been fascinated by the stories of the French Revolution? Then step right up, this tour is tailor-made for you. Moss does a good job portraying how Australian Aboriginals and women were treated at the time…Historical romance fans will find a lot to like.” — Publishers Weekly on The Ghosts of Paris

This is the second book in the historical fiction mystery series featuring the sassy and smart Private Investigator from 'down under', Billie Walker. I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Billie and in this latest book, she heads to post-WWII Europe in search of a missing husband and gets unexpected information about her own past.

The Ghosts of Paris” is the second novel in the Billie Walker series by author Tara Moss. Billie is a grieving war widow, or at least she thinks she is (not knowing the fate of her own husband), following her father’s path into the world of investigation. From Sydney, to the streets of London, to Paris, “Ghosts” takes the reader on an emotional journey that also serves to quench some wanderlust.

Phantoms, apparitions, haunted castles, sorcery, poltergeists and demons? All relegated to the “primitive”, pre-Enlightenment past. Postwar Sydney, London, and Paris come alive in Moss’s intense sequel to The War Widow …A richly detailed historical mystery that spotlights social issues like postwar persecution of LGBTQ communities in both Sydney and Paris. Readers of Sulari Gentill’s “Rowland Sinclair” mysteries, set in interwar Sydney, will appreciate Moss’s riveting series.” —Library Review (STARRED) So, the government thought, “ Why not move the remains to the old limestone pits down below?” Starting in 1786, they shifted a whopping load of bones underground, crafting what we now call the Paris Catacombs. Our nocturnal ghost and legends tour takes you down dark, winding alleyways – the better to soak up the atmosphere of mystery and imagine Paris in very different times. At the beautiful, romantic Square du Vert-Galant - created in honor of Henry IV and his mistresses and recently declared an “Espace vert ecologique” (an ecological green space) – your guide will describe a different scene, when the last Knights’ Templar was burned at the stake here.The old terminus of line 3 at Villiers was also turned into a training center for the RATP, just outside Parc Monceau. [4] Moved stations [ edit ] Anyone who’s roamed the streets of Pigalle, in Paris, after dark can easily concur that it has something seedy, if not downright creepy, about it. Pigalle has long been a quartier of ill repute: the red light district where bawdy clubs like the Moulin Rouge and far more x-rated counterparts continue to thrive; where a museum dedicated to eroticism in myriad forms once stood (sadly, it closed in 2016), and quiet, dark alleyways abound, chaotically melding into busy boulevards. There’s something– well, dark about the place.