Cinema Chic and Murderous Movie Stars

Murder in Paris 68 by Edward Chisholm

by Peter Newman, 
St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Committee

I had been caught short – in the wardrobe department – and needed to buy some shirts while I was in Malaysia. 


The thing that struck me, however, was that the brand was not one I had encountered before. It was an Alain Delon. 


For those unfamiliar, Delon was the iconic French actor of the sixties, inhabiting in my mind a swirling milieu of Jean Luc Godard, black and white gangster films, glamour, trench coats and, somewhat more personally and idiosyncratically, late night Channel 4 film marathons.


Edward Chisholm’s debut book was a classy and stylised retelling of his life as a Parisian waiter called, unsurprisingly, ‘A Waiter in Paris’. I had read it at the beginning of this year and, when I heard he had written a second book, this time about Delon and Paris again, I went on the hunt to get hold of a review copy. I am so pleased that I did.


What I already knew from his debut is that Chisholm is a phenomenal writer, able to juxtapose personal experience with wider socio-economic observations with aplomb.


What I learned was equally interesting: Delon was a far more interesting character off-screen than on. And far more dangerous.


I began asking some colleagues: “Do you know who Alain Delon is?” Most had some idea. “Did you know he was bound up in the death of a friend/associate/possible lover who also had an affair with his wife?” No one did – including the French person I spoke to.


Sex, drugs, politicians, 60s fashion and hustlers on the make – there is little not to recommend ‘Murder in Paris 68’.


Chisholm published a list of books on his Instagram account to read around the book, and a list of movies to watch as well as some enticing clips. If you haven’t read Truman Capote’s seminal ‘In Cold Blood’ then a) you should and b) it might help you with the style of ‘Murder in Paris 68’.

What is undeniable is that Edward Chisholm has done the leg work, uncovered facts not previously in evidence and pieced together a tantalizing and absorbing account of a tragic event now mainly lost to history.
This has been, without doubt, my favourite book of the year so far: pacey, poetic, moving and lingers with the reader. Highly recommended.

Peter Newman, 
St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Commitee

As well as teaching, I have been a freelance journalist writing sports and
arts and have been reviewing books and interviewing authors on my website
for over a decade. Additionally, I have been a political candidate, a podcast host, a coach of various sports teams and am a co-opted member of the board of the Festival. I am really looking forward to trying to introduce our readers to some authors and topics which you may not have had the opportunity to encounter yet.