A Murder of Convenience - Introducing Alphonse Dantan of the Paris P.J. (Hardcover)

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.