‘Murder At the Louvre’ by Jim Eldridge

Published by Allison & Busby,
21 December 2023.
ISBN: 978-0-74902997-5 (HB)

‘Murder At the Louvre’ by Jim EldridgeThis is the tenth investigation in Eldridge’s Museum Mysteries Series undertaken by eminent archaeologist Abigail (née Fenton) and her private detective husband Daniel Wilson. It is set in Paris in 1899 and begins when Abigail receives an invitation from distinguished French archaeologist Professor Alphonse Flamand to join him on a dig in Egypt. Although delighted, Abigail is also rather surprised as Flamand has been very dismissive of her achievements in the past.

A meeting is arranged, and Abigail and Daniel travel to Paris. However, on arriving for her appointment with Flamand at the Louvre, Abigail finds him dead, with a knife in his chest. She is immediately arrested and incarcerated on suspicion of murder, with her letters from Flamand denounced as forgeries. The good offices of the British Ambassador Sir Brian Otway and his assistant Edgar Belfont secure her release (a communication from Queen Victoria helps). Abigail is sure she has been framed and with Daniel sets out to prove her innocence and to track down the real killer. After a further murder, and suspicions about a previous death connected to the Louvre, the museum hires the Fentons to investigate any possible links and to solve the case. In this they are accommodated by Superintendent Maison of the Paris police who is aware of the pair’s track record.

The novel has the fascinating backdrop of the Dreyfus affair and Dreyfus’s impending re-trial. As a result, much is made of the conflict between supporters and opponents of Dreyfus, and anti-Semitism bubbles away. Flamand, whose dealings with artefacts he discovered may have been dishonest, appeared to be anti-Dreyfus, but was he a double agent? Some unappealing army officers come to the fore - have they been involved in the murders? What connection, if any, is there between the crimes and the Dreyfus affair? The army is certainly not willing to take a back seat, and the case becomes an at times quite unpleasant three-way battle of wills between the Louvre, police and army.

As demanded by the milieu there is a good deal of period detail in the novel including the appearance of a shambling post-imprisonment Oscar Wilde who is safe in the knowledge that homosexuality is not illegal in France. The diverse characters are well-drawn, the short sections and constant switching of action means that the many strands of the plot hold the reader’s attention, the setting is convincing, and the conclusion is totally satisfying. This is a highly enjoyable novel which I am happy to recommend with enthusiasm.

If, like me, you enjoy mystery novels set in fin de siècle Paris and haven’t yet come across them, I also recommend the series written by sisters and Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre under the pseudonym of Claude Izner which involve bookseller Victor Legris. They are published in the UK by Gallic Books and contain a wealth of period detail as well as being riveting stories.
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Reviewer: David Whittle

Jim Eldridge was born in the Kings Cross/Euston area of north London in November 1944. He left school at 16 and did a variety of jobs, before training as a teacher. He taught during the 1970s in disadvantaged areas of Luton, while at the same time writing. He became a full-time writer in 1978. He has had 80 books published which have sold over two million copies. He has had over 250 TV and 250 radio scripts broadcast in the UK and across the world. He lives with his wife in Cumbria; and is an associate lecturer at the University of Cumbria.

 http://www.jimeldridge.com/  

David Whittle is firstly a musician (he is an organist and was Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School for over 30 years) but has always enjoyed crime fiction. This led him to write a biography of the composer Bruce Montgomery who is better known to lovers of crime fiction as Edmund Crispin, about whom he gives talks now and then. He is currently convenor of the East Midlands Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association.