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A review by cheryl6of8
Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris by David King
4.0
I got this from my sister-in-law, who got it from a neighbor in a book swap. The original reader received the book as part of the First Reads program on goodreads, based on the letter folded inside the front cover.
This was a compelling read for me, which is why I gave it 4 stars. It was hard to put it down, although at least part of what kept me going was a desire for answers thag no one ever got (the fact that not everything is explained is a frustrating aspect of true crime stories, but was more pronounced here). Petiot was clearly a monster, but the things that drove him and the identity and number of all his victims are known to him alone. The story reminded me somewhat of Dr. Holmes (the subject of Erik Larson's Devil in the White City) in terms of the setting, the ease of attracting victims, the large number of people affected, and the unclear motivation. An excellent reminder that serial killers are not a recent phenomenon, although the serious study of them is. If any of the current methods for handling these cases had been followed here, the details of the crimes would not be as vague and Petiot would be a well-known figure.
This was a compelling read for me, which is why I gave it 4 stars. It was hard to put it down, although at least part of what kept me going was a desire for answers thag no one ever got (the fact that not everything is explained is a frustrating aspect of true crime stories, but was more pronounced here). Petiot was clearly a monster, but the things that drove him and the identity and number of all his victims are known to him alone. The story reminded me somewhat of Dr. Holmes (the subject of Erik Larson's Devil in the White City) in terms of the setting, the ease of attracting victims, the large number of people affected, and the unclear motivation. An excellent reminder that serial killers are not a recent phenomenon, although the serious study of them is. If any of the current methods for handling these cases had been followed here, the details of the crimes would not be as vague and Petiot would be a well-known figure.