A Murder of Convenience

By Hannah I. Blank and Stephan Pastis

Postwar Paris 1953. Although not yet fully recovered from privations suffered under the Vichy government and the German Occupation, intellectual life in Paris is flourishing. Cafes are abuzz with philosophers and artists and students. The American dollar goes a long way here and Americans abound. (As do U.S. Go Home scrawlings on walls.) One carefree group of American students living in a French pension (their landlady is an antisemitic old Frenchwoman) are ensnared in a murder investigation in this cozy (yet deadly) comedy of manners. A mysterious young woman newly arrived in their building is found murdered in her attic room. The Paris Police Judiciare investigate, assisted by a handsome young interpreter, a veteran of the French war in Indochina. His affair with one of the American girls reveals clues which enable him to solve a crime reaching back to the dark days of World War II.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 096527781X
• ISBN13: 9780965277815
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Prism Corp
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A terrific murdery mystery!

The year is 1953 and the place is postwar Paris, where if your were young and had dollars in your pocket, you would be sampling the intellectual life flourishing in the sidewalk cafes and the art and artists found to be found on the Left Bank, and attending classes at the Sorbonne. Hannah Blank debuts both her own skills as a mystery writer and her fascinating protagonist, Alphonse Dantan of the Paris Police Judiciare in A Murder Of Convenience. Here is an old-fashioned murder mystery puzzle of twists combining the coziness of a traditional comedy of errors with an examination of the more serious undercurrents of the period in which it is set -- a city sill recovering from the privations and brutalities suffered under the Vichy government and the German Occupation. A Murder Of Convenience is highly recommended for mystery fans who will look forward eagerly to more fascinating adventures of Alphonse Dantan.

Engaging page-turner!

For anyone who has ever spent time in Paris, and hence become immersed in the environment, this book will compel you to return to that nostalgia. The 'pension' which is the site of much of the action, is truly typical of student accomodations. The characters are interesting and delightful, enthusiastic in their amateur attempts to solve the murder mystery. Almost all elements of the story are resolved at the end; there is the bit about the doppelganger appearance of two of the characters... I hope that Hannah Blank will give us a sequel and resolve this element. I also hope that now that Alphonse Dantan has been introduced, that he will re-appear in her next novel.