Murder chez Proust: A Mystery
By (Author) Estelle Monbrun
Skyhorse Publishing
Arcade Publishing
9th July 2013
United States
General
Fiction
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
FIC
Paperback
240
Width 140mm, Height 210mm, Spine 140mm
306g
When Adeline Bertrand-Verdon, the haughty, conniving president of the Proust Association, is murdered, Inspector Jean-Pierre Foucheroux is called on to lead the investigation. Soon Inspector Foucheroux is overwhelmed by a seemingly endless list of suspects: from her assistant to her colleagues, her fianc to her lover, almost everyone Adeline knew had motive to kill her. Meanwhile, Gisele Dambert, the beautiful assistant with the royal blue eyes and more than a hint of mystery, is on her own search for the lost Proust notes that would allow her to finally enter the glittering world of the literary elite.
This clever, satirical novel presents a dazzling array of sharp, unscrupulous professors and scholars in the image-obsessed world of academia. An assortment of suspectsthe professor who plagiarizes his students' work, the manipulative directorbring intrigue and drama to the novel. Suspense and withering commentary on the morally questionable intellectual elite combine to form a clever mix of whodunit and satire.
"A delightful and classy literary mystery."
"Monbrun takes malicious glee in dissecting the shabby ethics of her literary cronies [and in] attaching Proustian themes to the duplicitous intellectuals she satirizes with such impertinent wit."
"No Proustian credentials are required to enjoy this suave debut."