Since I’m a big fan of French fin-de-siecle literature, I was keen to take a trip to 1889 Paris by way of Gary Inbinder’s The Devil in Montmartre. Wow! This novel exceeded my expectation. Watching the Can-Can dancers at the Moulin Rouge, walking the Parisian streets, following such characters from the tale as Inspector Achille Lefebvre and renowned artist Toulouse-Lautrec, I had the sense I was right there in the city along with some of my favorite authors: Jean Lorrain, Remy de Gourmont, Joris–Karl Huysmans, Guy de Maupassant. The world Gary Inbinder creates is that vivid.
At the heart of the tale is the grisly murder of one of the leading Can-Can dancers of the Moulin Rouge. Has the infamous Jack the Ripper traveled from London to Paris? The solving of this mystery will keep readers in suspense, turning the pages as one clue after the other comes to the surface. However, as much as I was intent on keeping abreast of events revolving around the crime, since my personal interests are literature, art and culture, I was particularly drawn to the following colorful highlights sprinkled throughout the novel's pages:
TO BE AN ARTIST: In conversation at the Moulin Rouge, American artist Marcia Brownlow tells Toulouse-Lautrec one of his portraits, a portrait featuring a beautiful young blonde woman with blue eyes stands out from his other works since the portrait has a distinctive charm and prettiness. Toulouse-Lautrec stiffens at this remark, sensing this American woman artist insulted him. In a subsequent conversation, Toulouse-Lautrec refers back to Macia Brownlow’s comment, noting how Marcia is admired for her vivid landscapes and portraits of beautiful woman, how she is the type of aesthetic painter who derives inspiration from the beauty of nature. The French artist goes on: “I’m not such an artist. To call one of my paintings ‘pretty’ is damning it with faint praise.”
This difference in an artist’s approach to painting was one of the hot topics back in those fin-de-siecle years. Here’s a description of Toulouse-Lautrec at the Moulin Rouge: “To Lautrec’s unerring eye and calculating brain the dancers were a problem in geometry and physics; fluid energy, flashing color, transforming forms and shapes in motion. He worked like a fiend to render them on paper the way the very latest in fast photographic lenses and shutters were capture the moment for posterity.” And such discussions of art continue, including when Lautrec is with his friend and fellow artist Émile Bernard and the work of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin are topic of debate.
THE DARK SIDE: “Achille’s eyes narrowed; his mind focused on his primary suspect. “Do you believe the individual who was ‘helping’ Mile Ménard could have been a doctor specializing in the treatment of female hysteria?”" Back in the late nineteenth century, the dark side of the human mind fascinated artists and scientists and also those involved in medicine and the new science of psychology. Sigmund Freud published his Studies on Hysteria in 1895. Marcia Brownlow speaks of one of her friends who suffered from a painful childhood and was haunted by cruel visions that propelled her to create a revenge fantasy. The use of chloroform in surgery and as part of a patient’s therapy was practiced at the time and chloroform comes into play in The Devil in Montmartre.
LITERATURE’S IMPACT: Inspector Achille has read Émile Zola, Victor Hugo and Guy de Maupassant and has been deeply moved by the honesty and decency of Edmond Dantès from The Count of Monte Cristo, inspiring him to be a champion of justice in defending the innocent and pursue the guilty. The Devil in Montmartre also includes famous American expatriate novelist Arthur Wolcott who brings a writer’s sensibility to the happenings in Paris.
HISTORY’S SCAPEGOAT: Two Parisian publishers, Edouard Drumont and Pierre Cauchon, concoct a story that will have the newspaper reading public believe the murdered dancer was fleeing the clutches of the Illuminati. Ah, the Jews and their diabolical plans! And these two will add spice to their story by writing how the Jewish influence has now spread even further: the Jews have infiltrated the police and are steering the investigation away from the true culprits within their insidious culture-destroying organization. Edouard Drumont, founder of the Anti-Semitic League of France, chortles, “I hope Baron de Rothschild gets hold of a copy. I’d like to see the look on his face when he reads it. I’ll be it makes him choke on his motzoth.” Such anti-Jewish sentiments festered at the turn of the century and continued throughout Europe for years, leading to deadly and tragic consequences, most notably in Germany under Adolph Hitler.
DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIMINOLOGY: Again, The Devil in Montmartre is a murder mystery. Gary Inbinder has his Inspector Achille Lefebvre employ all the latest scientific methods to crack the case. There’s Paul-Jean Coulier’s discovery within the world of chemistry to lift fingerprints. Also, at one point, Giles the photographer proudly informs the Inspector: “It’s the new Kodak No. 1 box camera. It has the latest modifications, including an advanced shutter and celluloid roll film, an improvement over the paper stripper film. It’s light, hand-held, and simple to operate in detective work.” Fans of whodunits will find much pleasure in following Achille in his solving the mystery before the murderer claims yet another victim. And, oh, yes, there’s a twist at the end that will surprise even the most seasoned reader. Highly recommended.
American novelist and essayist Gary Inbinder currently resides in Southern California where he continues his literary adventures
"Does filth breed crime?" Achille pondered this question as he anxiously awaited a discovery that might shed light on his case. He had read Zola and was familiar with the author's literary theory of naturalism, according to which character was formed by a combination of social conditions, heredity, and environment. That might hold true for the common criminal, but would it apply to a monster that could murder and horribly mutilate a woman?" - Gary Inbinder, The Devil in Montmartre
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