Murder in Montparnasse: A Mystery of Literary Paris

By Howard Engel

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Oct 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9781468309782

Howard Engel

HOWARD ENGEL is the creator of the enduring and beloved detective Benny Cooperman, who, through his appearance in 12 bestselling novels, has become an internationally recognized fictional sleuth. Two of Engel’s novels have been adapted for TV movies, and his books have been translated into several languages. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the 2005 Writers’ Trust of Canada Matt Cohen Award, the 1990 Harbourfront Festival Prize for Canadian Literature and an Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction. Howard Engel lives in Toronto.

Reviews for Murder in Montparnasse

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the introduction to this book Howard Engel is described as a former journalist and broadcaster who is now well known as the writer of the Benny Cooperman mysteries. I've read several of those mysteries and while I love the character of Benny I've never found the mysteries to be all that engaging. Now along comes Murder in Montparnasse and I have to say the mystery is most intriguing but the sleuth is no Benny Cooperman. I guess I'll have to read some more Engel mysteries to see if he ever manages to excel at both in the same volume. Michael Ward is a Canadian journalist working for the Paris office of a news agency in 1925. He encounters Jason Waddington early in his sojourn and they become fast friends. Jason is American but worked in Toronto at one time and knows many of the same people that Michael does. It's pretty obvious from the outset that Jason is a thinly disguised Ernest Hemingway. Jason has decided to write full time and he has had some success but he's pretty low on money. When you consider he has a wife and baby to support it's hard to see how he manages to spend as much time as he does in bars and restaurants. He introduces Michael to all his friends, some of whom are quite famous writers and painters. One of the women on the fringes is Laure, a teacher and translator. Laure and Michael have a passionate one night stand and then Laure ignores Michael. Michael is besotted and starts following Laure. He see Laure and Jason having a spirited discussion one night and then Laure leaves. Shortly after Michael finds Laure's purse in the street and he fears the worst. His fears are realized when it is announced that Laure has been murdered and that it appears that a serial killer is responsible. Michael has his doubts and starts to do some investigation on his own. He thinks it is one of the people in the small expat community who is responsible. Before he can determine if that is true the serial killer has to be stopped. Paris is the true star of this book. Imagine walking in the park and having Alice B. Toklas' dog start attacking your trousers. Or running into James Joyce at dinner in a restaurant. It's the stuff of dreams. Engel has caught what I think is the true essence of this time and place (although of course I can't be sure). I've never read much Hemingway but if I was a fan I'm sure I would have found this book even more fascinating. Just like Jason Waddington, Hemingway lost several years worth of manuscripts when he was in Paris in the 1920's. As the back cover says "Murder in Montparnasse offers a credible explanation for a puzzle that has plagued literary sleuths for decades: What really happened to the lost Hemingway manuscripts?" If that doesn't hook the Hemingway fan, I don't know what will.