Book Log 2012 #21: Death in the City of Light by David King

In the waning years of World War II, a startling discovery is made at a property of a Parisian doctor: a basement full of bones, a stove burning body parts, and a mysterious triangular room. As the hunt for the doctor and the investigation of his activities continue, more questions are raised. Is he working for the Resistance? The Gestapo? Or only for himself, getting rich off of the promises to smuggle people out of France? All of this is covered in great detail in this book, which benefits greatly from the author's ability to peruse records from the period that had been classified for decades.

As is often the case, what happens after the doctor is caught is at least as interesting as his pursuit. The growing monstrosity of his deeds continues to build, only to come to a bizarre end at his trial, which demonstrates how the legal peculiarities of the time could dramatically alter a case.

The book also gives a good glimpse into an occupied Paris that had both become familiar with life under the Nazis, and how the occupation only served to further confuse the possible motivations of the killer.

Well worth a read.