An ingenious thriller, set in Edinburgh, from the master of French noir
From the moment he first gazes at Marjory across the roulette table in the Côte d'Azur Jean-Marie is entranced, and when their feverish holiday romance comes to an end he decides to take the biggest gamble of his life - to follow the beautiful Englishwoman back to rainy Edinburgh.
But Jean-Marie's luck runs out as soon as he arrives. His infatuation with Marjory draws him into an impenetrable mystery and soon he finds himself with blood on his hands, trapped in the grey-granite labyrinth of the city streets, and running out of time to save his sanity and his life. The King of Fools is a fiendish tale of passion, betrayal and murder.
Frédéric Dard (1921-2000) was one of the best known and loved French crime writers of the twentieth century. Enormously prolific, he wrote hundreds of thrillers, suspense stories, plays and screenplays throughout his long and illustrious career. Dard's Bird in a Cage, The Wicked Go to Hell, Crush, The Executioner Weeps and The Gravediggers' Bread are also available or forthcoming from Pushkin Vertigo.
I felt it was a surprisingly ambitious book and a much lighter read than The Gravedigger’s Bread in tone but not in its themes or ideas. It is sharp, entertaining and well worth seeking out.
Read my full review at Mysteries Ahoy!