A Very Profitable War

Book excerpt: A rollicking noir set in Paris, during the anarchic days following World War One In January 1920, in the aftermath of “the war to end all wars,” private detective René Griffon is hired to investigate the marital infidelities of the wife of a war hero. But what he uncovers is more than shabby behavior, and more than a sex scandal—what he uncovers is a scandal with devastating national implications. And as Griffon’s investigation plunges him into the murky world of blackmail, murder, anarchists, profiteering, and the repercussions of the war’s dark secrets, he discovers that the people who helped France win the war are being made to pay for the peace. Both homage to its American predecessors and critique of the Americanization of French—and global—culture, A Very Profitable War is a tense and evocative book that will linger long after its startling conclusion.