Although the title of the Lawrence J. Epstein novel says Exiles: a mystery in ParisIn fact, there are several types of mysteries that are addressed on various levels. Readers are invited to explore these and see beyond the shadow of the murder case that reigns over the plot.
Everything falls apart in Paris, 1925, a period marked by recovery, vitality and hope. It is the hope of a new beginning that prompts Daniel Levin to leave his home and venture into a foreign land to try to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer. While you quickly make friends with the right people and get a lot of help from them, you still have to face a lot of obstacles alone. Some of them are related to his literary career, some even threaten his life.
Shortly after their arrival, a murder occurs in their vicinity. The audacity of the crime and the fame of the victim guarantee the headlines. While you start out as a mere keen observer, your status will change as you become more and more involved in the case. Meanwhile, he also faces the mystery of love and its many masks. Levin thus has the opportunity to discover a city like Paris through a woman. As a bonus, the pages of the book are spiced with appearances by famous people like Sylvia Beach, Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein, all of whom are heavily portrayed and bring an additional layer of complexity to the novel.
On a deeper level, this story is about an inner exile and how we tend to hide from our true selves and lose our way. Our actions are guided by past events, and sometimes we even become prisoners of our past. Levine found himself in such a situation; He came to a crossroads in his life, but was unable to move in any direction. Instead of making a deal with the devil, he did so with a friendlier creature and a new, previously invisible path spread out before his feet.
Exiles: a mystery in Paris Through the predominance of dialogue and action it makes it pleasant to read and easily locks the reader into its pages. While this book is unlikely to impress with its language, it will be its simplicity that will subtly draw you deep into the plot. It is worth mentioning that this is only the first book in a series focused on the main character and it follows. Bloodlines: A Mystery About Murdering the Weak Y Abandoned: a mystery in Nazi Germany.