Hugo Marston Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Hugo Marston Books
The Bookseller | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Crypt Thief | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Blood Promise | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Button Man | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Reluctant Matador | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Paris Librarian | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Sorbonne Affair | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Book Artist | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The French Widow | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The “Hugo Marston” series by Mark Pryor is from the genre of mystery. The series began in the year 2012, when “The Bookseller” was released.
The series stars Hugo Marston, who is a former special agent of the FBI (working as a profiler); he later became the head of security at the US Embassy in Paris.
“The Bookseller” is the first novel in the “Hugo Marston” series and was released in the year 2012. Hugo Marston goes to a bookseller’s stall next to the River Seine, and buys an ancient book from Max (who is his old friend). Right after, Max is kidnapped. Hugo must link Max’s odd history with the ancient book that he just bought, and figure out why other booksellers have gone missing.
He has someone with him to help. His name is Tom Green, who is a CIA agent that is semiretired. They find that Max survived the Holocaust and went on to hunt down Nazis.
Hugo, too, becomes a target, and he finds a conspiracy. It is from the recent past of Paris, and it takes him right into the enemy’s den. Just like the killer wanted to have happen.
Fans of the novel found that despite this being someone’s debut novel, this read like someone who had long been writing suspense and mystery novels. This was a fast paced and smooth tale that is a great way to get a series started. The novel was difficult for some to put down, and it pulled them in, right from the very start of the novel. Some cannot wait to read more of this series, and see where Pryor is able to take the series.
“The Crypt Thief” is the second novel in the “Hugo Marston” series and was released in the year 2013. A crypt is robbed at the beginning of this book. It happens at the famous cemetery called Pere Lachaise; the one thing take are the bones of a Moulin Rouge dancer that is now long dead.
They lock down the cemetery but the person robbing it is able to get in and out, like they are a ghost. Two Americans are killed while at the cemetery, Hugo is sent to investigate matters by the US Ambassador. He wants to know: how is the killer able to kill without leaving any witnesses? Why steal the bones of a Can-Can girl that used to be famous?
Hugo is able to figure out the graveyard’s secrets, and finds that the bones are not all that the killer wants. His bigger plan involves needing the organs and flesh of those living. Hugo’s body will do for this crypt thief.
Fans of the novel enjoyed the ride for its complex story and how eerie things got a times. This is a novel that you have to set aside everything else in your day so that you can read just this book. Some even came into the book with high expectations and they were far exceeded with this book. Fans enjoy the series, and hope that the other installments were as good as these first two were. Pryor does a great job of writing books that are hard to put down.
“The Blood Promise” is the third novel in the “Hugo Marston” series and was released in the year 2014. Hugo has to find out what is inside the chest that belonged to a sailor; and before a two hundred year old blood promise is brought to light and kills another.
In Paris, post-Revolution, an elderly man signs a letter in blood, and then hides it in a chest that belongs to a sailor. The chest is transported, along with the hidden contents, by a messenger; right after the plague hits and someone dies an untimely death.
Two centuries later, Hugo Marston is protecting a popular yet unpredictable senator that is negotiating a France and America dispute while in Paris. The talks, that are held in one the country’s chateaus, fall apart; this is due to the senator claiming that someone broke into the room he is staying in.
A theft is something that will be last on the list of things Hugo concerns himself with when there are some things hidden in the chest. The person who found them decides that there is money and power available to them because of these secrets. These secrets (and the power and money) are worth killing over. There is darkness behind the history and when it comes out, those who are the most clever and ruthless have no power to keep it contained.
Fans of the novel enjoyed the usual banter and wit that the characters engaged in with each other. It was great to read about the atmosphere of Paris, and Pryor does a great job of describing it. Some even found that this was the best novel in the series so far, and wished that more books were like this one. People cannot get enough of the series, and hope that Pryor writes more and more about this character and that the novels turn out this good.
“The Button Man” is the fourth novel in the “Hugo Marston” series and was released in the year 2014. This is a prequel to “The Bookseller”. Hugo has just been promoted to be head of security at the US Embassy in London. His first task is to protect the famous movie star couple (Ginny Ferro and Dayton Harper). They were filming a movie in the rural part of England, and they killed a man who lived there in a hit and run.
It goes to hell pretty quickly. Before he even meets them, he is informed that Ferro has run off. She is later found hanging from an oak tree that is in a cemetery in London. Harper gets away from Hugo and he does not know where Harper has gone.
He gets help from a young lady named Merlyn (who is on the secretive side) and a Member of Parliament; they are taken to an English village. They do not find Harper, but more bodies. They team up with the local detectives working the case; he also works on his own, and has a hard time to link the victims in any way. Is it a serial killer or something
Book Series In Order » Characters »
When is the next Hugo Marston book coming out? Waiting not so patiently !