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A review by mahmabaer
Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris by David King
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
I am a practical person. I enjoy a fact-based, to the point, and unelaborative narrative, and David King almost delivers.
The story of serial killer Dr. Marcel Petiot is a series of twists and turns that would have even modern mystery writers scratching their heads and not sure how this story is actually true. This story of deceit, disguise, cruelty, theatrics, patriotism and barbarism takes place in 1940s Paris, where apparently everyone spent their lives smoking, drinking and having elicit affairs (I think the story mentioned as many lovers for these people as there were victims of the accused!), and yet, this is in the middle of the German occupation of France and the Nazis -- the Nazis! -- play almost no part! They're less something to fear and more a plot point!
I am docking points for a couple of reasons. Randomly, the author will sidetrack into stories about other famous people, such as Albert Camus and Pablo Picasso, who were living in Paris at the time that really have nothing to do with the case, and then their story is disregarded completely in the last third of the book, so their story does not really need to be here. Also, in the Epilogue, a crucial piece of information is revealedin which we have testimony for one of the only the people to escape from Petoit's dungeon and the author just... doesn't finish the story! He is going along telling a crucial moment in which a young man is experiencing a poisonous gas and is in chains and then he sidelines to explain to us what the gas does to the human body and how the Nazis too used it at Aushwitz and he never goes back to tell us how the young man escaped the mad doctor's poison room !!! What the heck?!
Overall, an excellent, well researched and wild true story that leaves you with questions and speculations, that probably coulf have done with another glance through by an editor.
The story of serial killer Dr. Marcel Petiot is a series of twists and turns that would have even modern mystery writers scratching their heads and not sure how this story is actually true. This story of deceit, disguise, cruelty, theatrics, patriotism and barbarism takes place in 1940s Paris, where apparently everyone spent their lives smoking, drinking and having elicit affairs (I think the story mentioned as many lovers for these people as there were victims of the accused!), and yet, this is in the middle of the German occupation of France and the Nazis -- the Nazis! -- play almost no part! They're less something to fear and more a plot point!
I am docking points for a couple of reasons. Randomly, the author will sidetrack into stories about other famous people, such as Albert Camus and Pablo Picasso, who were living in Paris at the time that really have nothing to do with the case, and then their story is disregarded completely in the last third of the book, so their story does not really need to be here. Also, in the Epilogue, a crucial piece of information is revealed
Overall, an excellent, well researched and wild true story that leaves you with questions and speculations, that probably coulf have done with another glance through by an editor.