- From
- the
- award-winning
- legend
- of
- speculative
- fiction,
- “a
- witty
- sendup
- of
- the
- detective
- story”
- with
- “a
- richness
- of
- invention
- that
- doffs
- a
- hat
- to
- Dickens”
- (Chicago
- Tribune).At
- a
- fashionable
- salon,
- Parisians
- line
- up
- to
- have
- their
- fortunes
- told
- by
- Ric
- Lazare’s
- amazing
- machine.
- The
- predictions
- arrive
- with
- unerring
- accuracy,
- as
- if
- the
- invention
- were
- imbued
- with
- some
- sort
- of
- wondrous
- sorcery.
- The
- police,
- however,
- have
- a
- different
- opinion.
- They
- suspect
- that
- Lazare
- is
- a
- con
- man.
- Accordingly,
- they’ve
- sent
- one
- of
- their
- own
- to
- investigate.
- Unfortunately,
- the
- man
- they
- send
- is
- Paul
- Picard.His
- methods
- are
- unconventional.
- His
- appetites—for
- lemon
- tarts,
- and
- for
- prostitutes—are
- legendary.
- And
- he
- is
- no
- stranger
- to
- the
- dark
- side
- of
- Paris.
- But
- Inspector
- Picard
- is
- entirely
- unprepared
- for
- the
- string
- of
- murders
- that
- pulls
- him
- across
- the
- continent.
- As
- the
- killer’s
- seductive
- knot
- tightens
- around
- him,
- he
- learns
- once
- and
- for
- all
- that
- there’s
- more
- to
- the
- glimmering
- world
- of
- high
- society
- than
- first
- appears.Winner
- of
- the
- World
- Fantasy
- Award
- for
- his
- novel
- Doctor
- Rat,
- William
- Kotzwinkle
- reaffirms
- his
- reputation
- as
- one
- of
- the
- most
- captivating
- and
- original
- American
- authors
- of
- the
- last
- half-century
- with
- this
- “elegant
- entertainment”
- of
- magic
- and
- mystery
- in
- Paris
- (The
- Washington
- Post).“Gaudy,
- decadent,
- smoothly
- polished,
- this
- beguiling
- novel
- is
- .
- .
- .
- a
- feat
- of
- stage
- magic,
- well
- rehearsed
- and
- well
- performed
- by
- a
- fine
- craftsman.”
- —The
- New
- Yorker“Alternately
- dark
- and
- glittering
- .
- .
- .
- a
- first-rate
- vaudeville
- turn.”
- —Chicago
- Tribune“Pure
- magic.” —Playboy
pro-mbooks3 : libris
