Murder in Montparnasse

Howard Engel makes a departure from his Benny Cooperman mysteries to deliver a roman ˆ clef set in Paris in the '20s. Canadian journalist Mike Ward, living in the City of Light, has befriended writers Jason Waddington and George O'Donnell (a.k.a. Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald). When the lovely Laure Duclos is killed by a "Jack the Ripper" style killer, Ward uncovers troubling secrets about his friends. Narrator Geoffrey Howard does a fine job portraying a multi-continental cast of characters. He effortlessly transports the listener to cafes and bars where conversations transpire over cups of coffee and glasses of wine and reproduces the energy and competitive spirit among the bohemian writers. K.M.D. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

August 2, 1999
Taking a break from his Benny Cooperman mysteries, Engel (Getting Away with Murder) presents a Parisian mystery involving cafes, romance, murder and lots of wine. In the fall of 1925, Canadian journalist Mike Ward arrives in the City of Light in search of the literary life. Soon he meets Jason Waddington, an expat American writer, and is lured into his circle of fashionable authors, painters, editors and socialites. Among them is the breathtaking Laure Duclos, a "teacher of French"; despite warnings from his friends that "she's poison," Ward is hooked after one look. Their affair is short-lived, however, since Laure is soon murdered, apparently by the notorious Jack de Paris, a serial killer with a penchant for stabbing beautiful women. Ward suspects someone has used Jack as cover to do away with Laure, however, and determines to find the real murderer. Meanwhile, cafe gossip insinuates that Waddington's current manuscript is a character-defaming expos about his friends. Engel relies heavily on dialogue to push forward his plot, with plenty of intoxicated cafe talk thrown in, and his characters should please fans of the era: Waddington bears a pointed resemblance to Hemingway, and many other players are loosely based on notable writers or their famous fictional creations. Engel's descriptions of Paris in the '20s are charming, adding to the fun of the gambol he provides through the Left Bank and its denizens. Agent, Beverly Slopen.