Yibbie's Reviews > Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris

Concerned neighbors call the police over smoke coming from an unoccupied building. The police enter trying to save anyone in the building only to discover they are too late, years too late. There are bodies everywhere. Normally, there would be no question as to who was guilty. Surely it must be the man who specially fitted up this house of horrors and is now on the run. But – a few streets away the Gestapo is also torturing, and killing people, and the Resistance is exacting their revenge on Germans, collaborators, and informers. So, despite the multiple bodies and missing people, was there even a crime? Was it a war crime? Was it just war? Or did a murder simply take advantage of the chaos and terror of those times to kill undetected?
Parts of this book are as beautifully written as any mystery novel. It’s full of gripping descriptions, and the action is well-paced. The author speculates occasionally, but always indicates where he is speculating. I appreciate that in a history book.
There were a couple of things that distracted me or annoyed me. The rambling from the story was annoying. For example, Sartre and Picasso while in Paris at the time really have nothing to do with this story, but King interrupts the story several times to describe what they are painting or writing. It doesn’t happen that often so isn’t too distracting. More distracting, for me anyway, was the sheer number of people each introduced with a brief biography even if they have very little to do with the story. That aggravated my struggle to keep all the people correct.
Be warned it is gruesome. It not only details the discovery of the many dismembered, skinned, and burned victims, but also briefly describes some of the torture methods employed by the Gestapo. Much of Dr. Marcel Petiot’s story involves characters from the seamier side of Paris society. There is also one profanity.