Among our current best-selling Turnrow 20 titles -- including John Sullivan's Pulphead, Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic, Rick Gavin's Ranchero and The Happy Table of Eugene Walter is a surprise customer favorite, Death in the City of Light by David King.
If you're looking for a gift for the doctor or lawyer who has everything, the mystery and history lover who has probably already read the new bestsellers, you may startle and surprise them with this riveting true-crime account that looks back on a shocking series of crimes most Americans know nothing about.
We discovered this fascinating book on the quest for more information on Nazis following Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts from the summer. We were still curious to find stories of ordinary people surviving under the Nazi's oppressive reign, and what we found in this story of a Parisian serial killer during World War II was an equally intriguing form of evil.
In 1994, Paris police discover the gruesome remains of dozens of murder victims in an apartment owned by Dr. Marcel Petiot. The doctor has gone missing, and a cool Parisian detective, Commissaire Massu, scours the city for clues to the suspect's whereabouts, uncovering a litany of captivating stories that shed light on the killer. The culprit is clear, but the motive is the mystery. As a more stunning and complex portrait of the suspect unfolds and the extent of his crimes emerge, the reader is treated to a jaw-dropping tale of a first-rate sociopath, a case that ends in a dizzying courtroom spectacle.
King's book combines all the best traits of robust narrative history and a murder mystery, pitting a genius criminal against a shrewd lawman. The backdrop of 1940s Paris, especially its underground societies of criminals and artists, adds an extra layer of interest to a story already teeming with drama. We've enjoyed listening to our customers talk it up among each other after following our recommendation. There's plenty to discuss at the end, and plenty more trails to follow. Consider David McCullough's The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, another customer favorite here.
