Right off the bat, I must say that I far preferred this book to "Labyrinth." The characters were more realistically developed this time out, I think.In "Sepulchre," Mosse again uses the plot concept of past and present intertwined via an artifact; a fin de siecle tarot deck, in this case. In 1890s Paris and Carcassone, the Vernier family is entwined via various unpleasant circumstances with a psychopathic criminal who stalks and threatens them. The younger daughter, Leonie, becomes fascinated with an occult aspect of the family's history and begins to research it during a visit to the Carcassonais estate belonging to her widowed aunt.In modern times, a piece of music annotated by Leonie is given to Meredith Martin, an author and musician researching the life of Claude-Achille Debussy (conveniently, the downstairs neighbor of the Verniers at their home in Paris' 8th arondissement). She visits Carcassone to try to find information about Debussy's wife, Lilly and, in the process, learns some things about her own family history and that of the Verniers.The plots intertwine more naturally in this book than in "Labyrinth." Two minor characters from the previous book also appear in "Sepulchre" (Dr. O'Donnell and Sajhe). Well worth reading.
