First published 2018
Marcel Després sits in the Salpetriere Asylum in 1899 Paris, charged with killing his wife. His doctor discovers something extraordinary about this patient. Marcel remembers everything. Every moment, every detail of his entire existence remains vivid in his mind. The policeman investigating the case grows suspicious. His superiors want the matter closed quickly. Marcel was rushed to the hospital for reasons beyond medical care. This murder connects to powerful people throughout France, from the elite to the criminal underworld. The doctor and policeman work together to solve the mystery. The answers hide somewhere in Marcel's perfect memory. But when you remember every single thing that ever happened to you, how do you know what matters? Marcel struggles to separate the significant from the mundane in his endless catalog of memories. The investigation reveals that this apparent crime of passion masks something far more complex and dangerous.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, detective, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: France, Paris, Salpetriere Asylum
Period: 1899
336 pages · Paperback · Pegasus Crime
Content warnings: mental-illness