Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder in Belle Epoque Paris
Steven Levingston, 2014
352 pp.

Book Review by Molly Lundquist
April, 2015
Had this remarkable book been a crime novel, it would be easy to dismiss as improbable or far too dependent on coincidence. But Little Demon is a true story and should leave readers agog at the bizarre fashion in which real life unfolds.

As a taut police procedural—and one in which investigators appear outwardly incompetent while being quietly shrewd—Little Demon had me hooked. An added bonus is its stunning portrait of Belle Epoque Paris.

The story revolves around the brutal murder of a Parisian roué, a ladies' man. There are few clues to go on—not even a body—and whatever clues surface is due to the doggedness and brilliance of the police chief, Marie-Francois Goron. If this were crime fiction, Goron would serve as the book's hero—in fact, he'd be made star of his own detective series.

The assailants make what must be one of the strangest couples in the annals of true (or fictional) crime: Michel Eyraud, a forty-something ne'er-do-well, and his young lover Gabrielle Bompard, a lost soul who at the age of 24 finds herself alone in Paris. When finally arrested, Garbriella becomes an instant celebrity, adored by all of Paris, and hounded by a 21st-century style "paparazzi." She charms yet appalls, and the public can't get enough of her.

Levingston is a wonderful writer, taking pains to situate his story within the wider culture of 1880s Paris. We read of the city's love for the sensational, whether sexual or macabre (a stroll through the morgue is an evening pastime!), with Levingston peeling back the city's glittering surface to reveal a grittier, more sordid society.

This is terrific book—a gasp-inducing, hard-to-put-down read. The opening pages/chapters can be a little off-putting until you get used to the French names. They also cover in great detail hypnosis, a 19th-century European fad, which figures prominently in the later court case. Stick with the book, though, because it just gets better and better!

See our Reading Guide for Little Demon in the City of Light.