Murder Chez Proust

A Mystery

By: Estelle Monbrun

Narrated by: Liisa Ivary

When Adeline Bertrand-Verdon, the haughty, conniving president of the Proust Association, is murdered, Inspector Jean-Pierre Foucheroux is called on to lead the investigation. Soon Inspector Foucheroux is overwhelmed by a seemingly endless list of suspects: from her assistant to her colleagues, her fiancé to her lover, almost everyone Adeline knew had motive to kill her. Meanwhile, Gisele Dambert, the beautiful assistant with the royal-blue eyes and more than a hint of mystery, is on her own search for the lost Proust notes that would allow her to finally enter the glittering world of the literary elite.

This clever satirical novel presents a dazzling array of sharp, unscrupulous professors and scholars in the image-obsessed world of academia. An assortment of suspects - the professor who plagiarizes his students' work, the manipulative director - bring intrigue and drama to the novel. Suspense and withering commentary on the morally questionable intellectual elite combine to form a clever mix of whodunit and satire.

©1994 Editions Viviane Hamy. Translation copyright 1995, 2013 by Arcade Publishing, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Clever and intelligent plot

I enjoyed this English translation and the narrator was a perfect choice. Mixing real time locations with a literature classic was clever and interesting. Fresh plot and characters from start to finish.

Really enjoyed it!

This is a slow moving crime with a lovely French atmosphere. I had to get used to the French names, but the story was interesting enough that this was not a problem after a while. I enjoyed the insights in to the academic world. I would really like to read more books from this author.

It was hard to follow some parts.

the narrator was quite monotone and many parts of the book. It made it hard to follow the course of the plot.

A good cozy mystery.

I found this to be an enjoyable reading and listening experience with enough red herrings to keep me guessing, although I’ll admit I had it solved toward the end.

French book translated.

A total, complete, waste of time & energy. An awful book now in two languages.