The gripping, true story of a brutal serial killer who unleashed his own reign of terror in Nazi-Occupied Paris. As decapitated heads and dismembered body parts surfaced in the Seine, Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu, head of the Brigade Criminelle, was tasked with tracking down the elusive murderer in a twilight world of Gestapo, gangsters, resistance fighters, pimps, prostitutes, spies, and … prostitutes, spies, and other shadowy figures of the Parisian underworld. But while trying to solve the many mysteries of the case, Massu would unravel a plot of unspeakable deviousness.
The main suspect, Dr. Marcel Petiot, was a handsome, charming physician with remarkable charisma. He was the “People’s Doctor,” known for his many acts of kindness and generosity, not least in providing free medical care for the poor. Petiot, however, would soon be charged with twenty-seven murders, though authorities suspected the total was considerably higher, perhaps even as many as 150.
Petiot’s trial quickly became a circus. Attempting to try all twenty-seven cases at once, the prosecution stumbled in its marathon cross-examinations, and Petiot, enjoying the spotlight, responded with astonishing ease. Soon, despite a team of prosecuting attorneys, dozens of witnesses, and over one ton of evidence, Petiot’s brilliance and wit threatened to win the day.
Drawing extensively on many new sources, including the massive, classified French police file on Dr. Petiot, Death in the City of Light is a brilliant evocation of Nazi-Occupied Paris and a harrowing exploration of murder, betrayal, and evil of staggering proportions.
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Non-fiction that reads like fiction horror. During the German occupation of France in WWII, the discovery of a basement filled with dismembered bodies and the remains of others that had been burned to bone sends terror through the city. When the owner of the building quietly explains to the officers on scene that these are Nazis and traitors killed by the Resistance, it sets the investigation back long enough for the owner, a highly-respected doctor, to disappear. The book details the findings of the investigation as a sinister side of the doctor is revealed.
Informative but very repetitive and plodding.
This could have been a great book, but it had too many meaningless diversions and went into detail about insignificant topics and issues. Poorly paced, jumbled. Disappointing. Too long and unfocussed.
Paris during World War II seems to have made it back on my list again. Death in the City of Lights is no ordinary WWII read, though: it’s the true account of a serial killer, Marcel Petiot, preying on a cross-section of Parisians (for example, Jews fleeing Nazis as well as gangsters and prostitutes) at the height of the Occupation. Not only that, but the serial killer is a seemingly well-respected physician with connections to both the Resistance and the Underworld.
David King’s telling is meticulously researched and recounted. In all of my previous reading of Paris during the war years, I had never heard this story, which is quite remarkable, not least because even today authorities are unsure of how many individuals Petiot killed – at least 26, but possibly as many as 150. (The uncertainty is due to the ways in which people simply disappeared during the war, a terrifying history in and of itself which bears thinking about.) King begins this book with the gruesome discovery of the bodies, then weaves the tangled web that confronted the authorities (full disclosure: I skipped the paragraphs that appeared to have too high an “ick factor” for me). At times I was as confused as Inspector Massu and Company must have been, but with his prodigious research, King does a fine job of untangling the web in an Epilogue that provides reasonable and satisfactory answers to most questions.
Death in the City of Light is well-written and provides fascinating insight into the relationship between the various factions in Paris during the War. However, I did have two complaints. The first, which probably could not be entirely helped is that the cast of characters is tremendously long and I had a hard time remembering the relationships between them. (This is further compounded by the fact that many of them have additional code names or aliases and so even keeping straight, for example that Petiot is also Captain Valeri, Dr. Eugene, and Dr. Watterwald!) In other cases, a character may disappear for hundreds of pages before reappearing, in which case I was grateful to be reading this on my Nook, which enabled me to do a quick search and remind myself who the person in question was. Obviously the latter instances could have been more easily addressed by the author than the former. My second complaint was that, once this book moved into the trial phase, it became a bit lopsided: some of the best passages come from the trial, which was aptly described as a “circus” at the time, but some of the most tedious passages are also contained in those chapters.
I think this is a great read for anyone looking to gain deeper insight into World War II Paris or those who would like to read something that’s a bit “off the beaten path,” so to speak. A more casual reader, less interested in the workings of the Occupation or mid-twentieth century Paris, may find it less enjoyable.
(This review was originally published at: http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2012/06/death-in-city-of-lights.html)
one of the best books I’ve read!
Gary G
Terrifying true story…
A true story about a serial killer loose in Nazi-occupied Paris. We know pretty quickly whodunnit. The questions are how he dunnit and will they catch and sentence him. David King has a tough job. The case is intricate and messy. The trial brought very little to light.
The killer concentrated on gangsters and Jews trying to flee France. One glaring lapse by King is his failure to go into French antisemitism, even after the war, in any depth. Another is there is very little on the Resistance and the post-occupation collaborators’ attempts to hide behind the shield of the Resistance. King is too mired in the case, and the case is too confused. But it’s a story not many people know, and it’s grisly details should keep reader interest.