A Piece of the Continent - Paul Nicholson - Bog

Paris 1925. The French economy is struggling in the aftermath of WWI. A single US dollar will buy a bottle of Champagne much to the delight of the expatriates who have flocked to the city in droves. When the body of a young American woman is found washed up on the banks of the Seine, Constable Arnaud Lepine is promoted from his dull desk job in the precinct to the ranks of Inspector to investigate for the simple reason he speaks English, a language he picked up serving with the Canadian forces the war. Complicating the case is a concern by the French government that the woman's death could create a scandal, sidetracking a secret request to the US for financial aid. A Piece of the Continent is not so much a detective story as an Odysseus-like journey as Arnaud, haunted by the lingering trauma of trench warfare makes his way through the streets of Montparnasse and the jazz clubs of Montmartre to find out who the girl is, and at the same time find his way back to his family. Along the way he meets up with Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and a host of other writers, artists and musicians that made Paris of the 1920s so alive.