Banquet
of Beggars, by Chris Lloyd.
This is the third
book in Chris Lloyd’s series of the German Occupation of Paris during the
Second World War. Its Protagonist
Inspector Eddie Giral is, like every other Parisian, surviving on very little
with an ill-fitting and voluminous wardrobe to prove it – the only
healthy-looking individuals in the City of Light are the German Occupiers; the local Black Market doesn’t discriminate
between Reichmarks and Francs: whoever
can pay the price-gouging sums will get the goods. Naturally, the Germans are at an advantage
here, having plenty of funds and not having to queue for hours for a loaf of
bread, only to be turned away when meagre supplies have run out.
The
people of Paris are seething, so it comes as no surprise when Eddie is sent to
investigate the murder of a local Black Marketeer, found trussed up in a
miniature bath with a big lump of precious butter jammed in his mouth. Death by suffocation, and good riddance.
According to all the locals; if ever
someone deserved their fate it was THAT oily little scum.
Fair enough, thinks Eddie, until his interviews and
digging reveal more than just a passing involvement of the despised victim with
various German factions of their armed forces – which brings him again into
reluctant contact with Intelligence Officer Major Hochstetter, whose interest
in Parisian crime is more involved and comprehensive than it needs to be: once again Eddie has an investigation which
has more skins than an onion, and all of it centred around the deprived and
starving population of a beleaguered city hugely disappointed and crushed by
their useless government.
Hochstetter, too, has secrets to hide which Eddie
unwittingly discovers, but what at first seems to be a bargaining chip turns
once again into potential blackmail concerning Eddie’s estranged son
Jean-Luc: there are several compelling
reasons for Jean-Luc’s silence, all of them having the ring of truth – but which
one is the RIGHT one?
Chris Lloyd brings to horrifying life a city under siege,
a city full of desperate people calling for help which never arrives, and what
they are forced to do to survive. His
minor characters are unforgettable, world-weary, cynical – and starving, and
his day-to-day accounts of Paris under Occupation made this reader a whole lot
more appreciative of the food which we put so regularly on our table. FIVE STARS.
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