Matthew Blake’s debut novel, ANNA O, was one of the most talked-about releases of 2024, and a Netflix series adaptation is in development. It prominently featured the concept of memory, especially its precarious nature, which plays a major role in Blake’s second book. With a story that spans the latter days of WWII in Paris to the present, A MURDER IN PARIS covers a lengthy period of time where the existence of memory and its penchant for being misinterpreted have much impact on the plot.

Olivia Finn works as a memory expert at Charing Cross Hospital in London. One morning, as she is preparing her young son for school, she receives a call from the police at the Hotel Lutetia in Paris suggesting that a woman claiming to be her grandmother is standing in their lobby in an anxious state. Her grandmother’s name is Josephine Benoit, and she’s a recluse. The authorities inform Olivia that she is referring to herself as Sophie and confessing to a murder that took place in the hotel at the end of WWII.

"A MURDER IN PARIS once again shows that Matthew Blake excels in psychological thrillers that question reality and challenge memory, making for some highly suspenseful reading."

As Josephine’s only living relative, Olivia must head to Paris, not only to claim her but to find out the details of these outrageous assertions. Josephine is in the early stages of dementia, and a memory expert like Olivia is well aware of how that can impact what she believes to be true versus what has been merely imagined. Upon arriving in Paris, Olivia is met by a gruff man calling himself Captain Vidal, who is more concerned with getting an immediate answer to this alleged murder confession and having the case off his books.

To do so, Olivia must look at her grandmother’s personal history, specifically a period she rarely spoke of --- the Nazi occupation of Paris and its resolution at the end of the war. It is ironic and somewhat telling that Josephine is standing in the lobby of the hotel in front of a painting (entitled Memory) that she herself made back in the day. Olivia finds out that the Hotel Lutetia was used to house the recently liberated individuals from a nearby concentration camp. The images that these 1945 flashback chapters call to mind present quite a juxtaposition of human tragedy and upper-class opulence that rarely has been seen when remembering this period in history.

Olivia finds that Josephine is sharing a room with someone and realizes there may be something to the dark claims her grandmother has made to the police. The only residents who know Josephine and can assist Olivia is her old friend, Louis, and his son, Edward, who she has always found to be a bit suspect. A tragic incident, which I will not reveal here, spins the plot in different directions and will make you question everything you have read in much the same way as Olivia finds herself addled by the whirlwind of recent events.

The excursions back into 1945 are quite eye-opening, and the very nature of character, memory and guilt are mixed together in such a way that everything occurring in the present needs to be viewed through an entirely different lens, while what we have assumed to be true may not necessarily be so.

A MURDER IN PARIS once again shows that Matthew Blake excels in psychological thrillers that question reality and challenge memory, making for some highly suspenseful reading.