Memoirist Chisholm (A Waiter in Paris) delivers a propulsive account of the so-called “Marković Affair,” a salacious murder case that touched various corners of French society. In 1960, French actor Alain Delon shot to fame after playing Tom Ripley in Purple Noon. Even as a celebrity, though, Delon continued associating with shadowy characters from the underworld, including Stevan Marković, a Yugoslav fixer. Marković was found dead in a Parisian dump in the fall of 1968, shortly after telling his brother that, if anything were to happen to him, it would likely be the fault of Delon’s unsavory associates. The ensuing media circus included stories of orgies involving political figures and a trove of explicit photographs featuring the French president’s wife, yet Marković’s murder remained unsolved. With the pacing and polish of a top-shelf crime novel, Chisholm’s account digs deep into Delon’s and Marković’s pasts, considering whether they were friends, co-criminals, or sometime lovers, while zooming out far enough to illustrate how the press both fanned the flames of the case and inhibited its investigation. The result is an uncommonly assured work of true crime from a newcomer to the genre. (Nov.)
Murder in Paris ’68: A True Story of Death and Glamour by Edward Chisholm will be published in North America by Pegasus Books in November 2026.
Edward Chisholm was born in England and moved to Paris after graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. A resident in the City of Lights for seven years, Chisholm spent the first four of them working all manner of low-paid restaurant jobs, from waiting and bartending, while trying to build a career as a writer. Now Chisholm makes a living as a freelance writer. His first book was A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City (Pegasus, 2022) His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Financial Times magazine. He lives in England. The agency represents North American rights on behalf of Curtis Brown (UK).