Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris

The comparisons of this book to Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City are inevitable. Both nonfiction books deal with serial killers who went undiscovered for much too long, both are set in large cities with major events happening, and even the titles are similar. While Devil was set against the happy backdrop of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Death was set a half century later in the horrible time when Nazis controlled Paris.

A serial killer, Marcel Petiot, during a time when so many were being tortured and murdered by a government headed by a maniac - people just disappeared all the time, so who would think it was the result of a serial killer rather than Hitler and minions? Especially when Dr. Petiot claimed to be part of the Resistance, helping people escape.

Given the similar stories, the books are quite different because of the writing. Mr. King details lots of facts, so many that I had trouble keeping up. He has a habit of referring to places by their street addresses, and that was also hard to keep straight, as was the abundance of references to different people, especially when I didn't know which were going to be key players and which were not. Given that, I very much appreciated references to well-known people such as Sartre and Camus.

There were many references to the costs in francs, but I would have appreciated a comparison to current value, because the value of a franc in 1940s occupied Paris means nothing to me, and I'm probably not alone in that.

The writing was straightforward, usually a refreshing change from some of Larson's overblown phrases, but it did sometimes lapse into dryness. Until late into the book, I didn't really get a feel for Petiot, so much was about what was being discovered, but very little about the mind of Petiot. That did change, and made the last part of the book more interesting to me, made the book overall much more interesting. I would have liked to know more about why Petiot was as he was.

I am grateful to have received an uncorrected proof from the publisher.

*2.5 stars*

During the years of Nazi occupation of Paris, Marcel Petiot, a seemingly respectable doctor, murdered an unknown number of people. Was he a German sympathizer, using his own form of a "final solution" on innocent Jews who merely wanted to escape the city? Was he a member of the French resistance, acting as judge and executioner towards those he saw as friendly towards the Nazi occupiers? Or was he merely a cunning sociopath who took advantage of the chaos of the times to inflict as much horror and sadistic torture on those victims he managed to convince to walk through his door? What follows is a complicated, often convoluted trek through the oppressed streets and shadowy corners of Paris as the author attempts to answer those questions.

While the book does lay out, quite vividly, the incompetence of the French police force and the near-absolute ineffectiveness of the court system during those crazy, confused times, what the book doesn't do is create a compelling, coherent story. It's obvious the author did an exhaustive amount of research; what's not obvious is some sort of thread binding the story together. King attempts to illustrate the desperate gaiety exhibited by the glitterati who stayed in Paris despite the tramping of Nazi boots down her vaunted (some would say hallowed) streets by interspersing chapters detailing the plays put on by Sartre and Picasso in intimate salons for the edification and entertainment of a select few of Paris society; he also inserts chapters illustrating the desperate last stand of the French government and its leaders as they tried to keep German forces away. However, instead of creating a well-rounded view of this particular era in history, these chapters seem...awkward and jarring. They don't fit into the narrative, at least not fluidly, and they certainly don't enhance it.

Speaking of the narrative, I'm very sorry, but it's a snooze-fest. I started the book with every intention of becoming absorbed in the tale of a search for a mass-murderer who cleverly used the chaos of the times to get away with murder, literally. A third of the way through, I found myself supremely bored and from then on, I skimmed. The points King presented, illustrating the "progress" of the case, seemed scattershot and more like a courtroom presentation of witnesses and suspects rather than a breathless tale of a chase through the city. While we do, eventually, get to know Petiot and see him for the delusional maniac that he was (although the true scope of his crimes was never fully examined by the court at the time, leaving us, the reader, questioning whether he was truly as diabolical as he was painted or if he got away with more than was discovered), it comes about in a rambling, uneven (and excessively name-dropping) manner.

In the end, while I agree this is a grim and grisly portrait of a disturbed individual, one who perpetrated numerous crimes upon an innocent and unsuspecting populace, it is neither a gripping nor mesmerizing account, as proclaimed by the advertising campaign. Having read only the ARC, I don't know what the publisher's final plan or layout for the book may be, but I will say I believe the story would be helped by a few photos of the main players, perhaps a map of the city or a plan of the house in which the crimes took place. As a visual person, I feel such aids would greatly help illuminate the book and perhaps give the story more life.

The first few pages of this bore were good, and I thought this was going to be a great book. That thought quickly subsided, as did my interest. I can't tell you whether the end was good or not, because I did not get there. I would try, then set this book down and come back and try again. Still, I never could finish this thing. If you are having trouble sleeping, though, I recommend it. A couple pages of this, and you will be drifting off to sleep, with thoughts of other books you should have bought floating around in your mind...

I wanted to love Death in the City of Light. The source material is rich, the concept was interesting, but the end result was tedious. As soon as King gets the reader engaged, he hits the brakes again. Instead of allowing a revelation to come to light naturally (wow, we might have found him if we followed that lead...) he buries it under a torrent of explanations. Making the slow pace even slower is the choice to include an unconnected narrative about Sartre, Camus and Picasso. The artists partied while the city fell, got it. Unlike [[ASIN:0375725601 The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America]] (which Death in the City of Light obviously wants to be) the side narrative isn't compelling enough to interest. The reader never cares about the art circle being profiled, in fact I cared so little I just started skipping those pages. I tried this book on three different occasions but I never managed to get more than halfway through it. When King is engaging the reader he is a fantastic writer. The problem with Death in the City of Light is an abundance of choice, too much detail can be as unsatisfying as too little.

Ever since I read Larson's Devil in the White City Amazon has suggested other historic murder case books and I've bought quite a few and enjoyed them. Guilty pleasures for an old english major. The stories are often so compelling that bad writing doesn't matter. This is one of the better ones. The side stories of what was going on in Paris at the time are just as iinteresting as the main story.

As I see that many reviewers have already accounted for the basic progression and pace of this well-researched book, I'll just add my support to the assertion that the book becomes what one reviewer referred to as a 'snooze fest' about 1/3 of the way into it. I am sure that future researchers of the Petiot murders and trial will mind this book invaluable, but beware... the casual reader may tire of the rabbit holes King descends into as he provides background details for characters in the story that, in the end, don't seem particularly relevant for the story.

Wanting something similar to Devil in the White City by Erik Larsson I decided to give this book a shot. Reading non-fiction in which the author tries to give a fictionalized tone is very difficult because, in my experience, most authors lose that tone and get lost in all the historical details. Unfortunately, in some chapters, Mr. King got lost, many times he gave way too much information about the war where I lost sight of Petiot only for him to be pushed back into view again with the following chapter. Mr. King also left somethings unanswered, such as (I believe it was in the epilogue) he mentions a young man, whose name escapes me right now, who managed to get away from Petiot... How? I don't ever remember reading how this young man got away. Overall it was an interesting read, horrifying in some chapters, dry in others. To some extent, I would compare it to Devil in the White City, but on the same level? No, definitely not.

I cannot recall when I have read such an interesting account of the events in Paris during the German occupation. I will not go into any details except to say that this book is a compilation of a serial killer and the accounts of what went on in the "City of Light" during World War II.

Anyone who has visited Paris and wants to get a first hand account of what it was like for the French police to hunt down a mysterious and elusive serial killer, Dr. Marcel Petiot, while trying to adapt to wartime conditions under the Nazis.

David King also relates the real story of how the German Gestapo terrorized Paris and how they operated independently of the Brigade Criminelle and Commisselle, George-Victor Massu.

I would also like to add how "Death in the City of Light," tackles any questions re France and specifically, Paris, during four long years of German occupation.

I was utterly fascinated by the idea of this book, but the writing was very dry and seemed to skimp on what would be the most fascinating and disturbing parts. Instead it was like a police procedural, focusing more on the procedure. As horrifying as it all was, it was told without really feeling the human cost. A little more emotion would have done this story well.

First of all let me give a huge thank you to the writer David King and Crown publishing for supplying me with a copy of this book to read. One of my favorite genre of books is crime writing and this book is definitely the best one I have ever read.

I thought that the best true crime book I had ever read was Devil in the White City however, this book was so much better. For one reason I appreciated how King jumped right into the action. Too often in crime books does the author provide way too much background information before jumping into the meat of the story. There was only one chapter where I felt King got a little too into the history of France ( that chapter felt like a Monday morning lecture) but, the chapter was bearable and did set the stage for the next chapter.

David King did an amazing job in keeping a story that could easily get confusing simple to understand and enjoyable. The evidence in the Petiot case is easily laid out for you in a manner anyone can understand and does not include a lot of unnecessary medical jargon. I really appreciated that! The book reads more like a crime novel than a non-fiction book. My favorite part of the book was towards the end when the circus that was supposed to be Petiot's trial took place. The scene is set so well in the courtroom that you feel as if you were there during the trial. The descriptions of the murder house and other sites in Paris are also well described.

The description painted of Dr. Marcel Petiot is very disturbing. It seems like he truly was a real life breathing monster! The crimes he committed were truly horrendous and at no point does the author get shy about the details. I thought this was great; people need to know just how terrible his crimes against humanity was. The book also gives the opinions of Petiot's few supporters however, I think at the end of the book you will have no doubt in your mind whether he is innocent or guilty.

It took me way longer than usual to read this book because I had the flu last week but there were many nights I read this book until I fell asleep. Once you start reading it you will crave what happens next and not be able to put it down for a moment! This book comes highly recommended!