Book Review: The Dark Edge of Night by Mark Pryor

Parisian Police Inspector Henri Lefort is a victim of his own success. Having, however reluctantly, recently solved a wartime murder mystery for the occupying Germans, he is now expected to set aside all his other work and immediately take on another case for them. Never mind how overworked the local police, including his own homicide department, are: to the Nazis, the disappearance of one of their own takes priority over any actual crimes perpetrated on the mere French.

The missing German is Dr. Viktor Brandt, a neurologist working on a secret project in one of Paris’ hospitals. He’d only arrived in the country a week prior, and had been staying at the Ritz Hotel and working at the Bleriot before suddenly vanishing. Gestapo agent Stefan Becker expects Henri to get on the case and provide him with a detailed report in only two days, with consequences for Henri if no significant progress is made by then.

Henri might be more resigned to the presumption of the Nazis if he didn’t have a real crime to investigate. A man identified as the ailing Edouard Grabbin has been bludgeoned to death in his Paris apartment. There are scant clues to go on, but when Henri uncovers a connection between Grabbin and Brandt, things get very interesting. So interesting, in fact, that when Henri reports back to Becker, the latter essentially shuts down the investigation.

Henri is understandably dismayed by this. When he protests to his boss, Chief Luis Proulx admonishes him:

“Merde, non, you idiot. This isn’t about you! That phone call told you that he doesn’t give a damn about the truth. So make up a story that fits the facts. That way Becker is happy and your neck doesn’t get anywhere near the guillotine.”

 

“And that’s how we do our jobs nowadays? Men die […] and we just sit around making up stories about how?”

 

“It is if it means we stay alive. It is until we’re able to do them properly.”

Henri, however, has never been good at letting things go. As he doggedly pursues the connection between Grabbin and Brandt—as well as what their deaths might have to do, if anything, with the disappearance of multiple children—he’ll uncover a horrifying conspiracy. Without the official backing of either the French police or the occupying regime, he’ll have to navigate the tightrope of wartime pressures and interests to ensure that justice is served, while keeping himself and his loved ones as far away from danger as he can.

Complicating matters is the fact that Henri has been nursing an explosive secret for almost two decades now. It’s a secret that rules both his and his sister Nicola’s lives, as they pretend not to be related despite working together in the same police building. While they’ve made a pact to avoid fostering any close personal relationships that could expose the ghosts of their past, Nicola has started to chafe at the restrictions. Now in her thirties, she wants to think about starting a family, perhaps with police officer Daniel Moulin.

Henri doesn’t trust Daniel, and not just because Henri doesn’t trust easily. He’s convinced that their co-worker is leading a secret life, much to Nicola’s exasperation. When he tells her:

“But you heard what I said about Daniel. I’m not sure you’re taking me seriously. He lied to me.”

 

“Henri, everyone lies. You and I are lying to him about who we are. Does that make us murderers?”

 

“We have a damn good reason, and you know that.”

 

“And maybe he does, too.”

 

“What could it possibly be?”

 

“Look, Henri, everyone has secrets, too. You do, I do, we do. The witness you followed to the One-Two-Two sure as hell does, right? And none of those secrets have anything to do with being a killer. Sometimes you have to trust people, allow them to have their secret lives, trust that they’re not out to do you harm, that you don’t have to know everything.”

I loved how this novel upends the infuriating lack of trust trope so often raised in stories to create relationship drama. Nicola is the voice of reason as she aids her brother in navigating Paris under Nazi Occupation. She also helps keep him grounded as he uncovers unthinkable horrors, risking his very life to seek justice in a system that cares little for anything that gets in the way of Hitler’s ambitions.

The Dark Edge Of Night serves, too, to bring home the deprivations of wartime, especially to readers who might not be familiar with World War II Paris in particular. Combining unusual characters with fresh perspectives on a historical era that’s well-loved by writers of historical fiction, this murder mystery is a worthwhile entry to both genres, with an exciting ending that promises even greater adventure to come.