What do you think?
Rate this book
Murder In Paris '68: A true story of death and glamour
From the author of the word-of-mouth breakout hit, A Waiter In Paris comes an intimate and authentically told true story from the Parisian demi-monde of the 1960s, when the high-life and the low-life went hand in hand. It was a time when the French New Wave of cinema was taking the world by storm, a time of glamour, sports cars, casinos and night clubs - and at the heart of it all, the man of the moment, the enigmatic film star Alain Delon, dubbed 'the most beautiful man in the world'.
With a shady past and a taste for bad company and high-living, Delon lived on the edge. But when a dead body turns up in the outskirts of Paris that turns out to be Stevan Marković, Delon's friend, 'bodyguard' and associate, questions start to be asked. That Delon shot to stardom playing Tom Ripley with all those stylish and murderous associations does not go unnoticed. Is art imitating life or is life imitating art? What is Delon involved in? And who was Stevan Marković?
In an exceptionally skilful and highly readable work of narrative non-fiction, Edward Chisholm uses his own detailed in-depth research to weave the reader into an intimate patchwork of events as they unfold, submersing us in 1960s Paris. And as we meet the characters - actresses, directors, petty criminals, state prosecutors, high-level gangsters, star-struck policemen, compromised politicians - we witness what became to be known as The Marković Affair from the inside, as it spirals out of control and not only pulls down Alain Delon but everyone in his orbit.
For fans of Patrick Radden Keefe, David Grann and Philippe Sands, A Murder In Paris '68 may be the best non-fiction you read this year.
With a shady past and a taste for bad company and high-living, Delon lived on the edge. But when a dead body turns up in the outskirts of Paris that turns out to be Stevan Marković, Delon's friend, 'bodyguard' and associate, questions start to be asked. That Delon shot to stardom playing Tom Ripley with all those stylish and murderous associations does not go unnoticed. Is art imitating life or is life imitating art? What is Delon involved in? And who was Stevan Marković?
In an exceptionally skilful and highly readable work of narrative non-fiction, Edward Chisholm uses his own detailed in-depth research to weave the reader into an intimate patchwork of events as they unfold, submersing us in 1960s Paris. And as we meet the characters - actresses, directors, petty criminals, state prosecutors, high-level gangsters, star-struck policemen, compromised politicians - we witness what became to be known as The Marković Affair from the inside, as it spirals out of control and not only pulls down Alain Delon but everyone in his orbit.
For fans of Patrick Radden Keefe, David Grann and Philippe Sands, A Murder In Paris '68 may be the best non-fiction you read this year.
409 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2026
About the author
Edward Chisholm
3 books92 followersEdward Chisholm is a British writer based in Switzerland.
He is the author of A Waiter in Paris, an international bestseller shortlisted for the 2023 Ackerley Prize and translated into Chinese, Spanish and Polish, and Murder in Paris ’68, a work of narrative non-fiction exploring the unsolved murder of Stevan Marković and the dark glamour of postwar France.
He is the author of A Waiter in Paris, an international bestseller shortlisted for the 2023 Ackerley Prize and translated into Chinese, Spanish and Polish, and Murder in Paris ’68, a work of narrative non-fiction exploring the unsolved murder of Stevan Marković and the dark glamour of postwar France.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 7, 2026
A moody and mysterious account of the murder of Stevan Marković in 1960s Paris and the murky world of celebrity, politics and organised crime. This reads like the most immersive novel, despite being a carefully researched piece of non-fiction. I absolutely adored it, and was immediately transported into a past age where glamour and beauty met suspicion and threat.
May 3, 2026
Absolute BANGER. A fascinating historical and political narrative brilliantly told, about one of the most mysterious and alluring stars of the modern era.
January 22, 2026
Sure to be one of the best books of the year; easily the best book I’ve read in a few years.
On the surface, a story about the ‘Markovic affair’ - the murder of Yugoslavian emigré Stevan Markovic in Paris, ‘68. Really, though, this is all-encompassing look at French culture in the sixties. Fatalistic glamour and celebrity, a violent underbelly spreading across Europe, and scandalous sexual affairs that namedrop the brightest stars in culture and politics.
While the book falls under true crime, I feel it sits better in modern French history. Primarily it is wonderfully engaging narrative non-fiction.
‘The ending we know. What came before was the unbearable tension of a shadow leaning too far into the light, and eventually being consumed by it.’
On the surface, a story about the ‘Markovic affair’ - the murder of Yugoslavian emigré Stevan Markovic in Paris, ‘68. Really, though, this is all-encompassing look at French culture in the sixties. Fatalistic glamour and celebrity, a violent underbelly spreading across Europe, and scandalous sexual affairs that namedrop the brightest stars in culture and politics.
While the book falls under true crime, I feel it sits better in modern French history. Primarily it is wonderfully engaging narrative non-fiction.
‘The ending we know. What came before was the unbearable tension of a shadow leaning too far into the light, and eventually being consumed by it.’
May 18, 2026
I stumbled across this one in the bookshop and had to buy it because I loved the design of the cover.
A Patrick Radden Keefe style deep dive into the 'Markovic Affair', the 1968 murder/political scandal involving the death of a friend of Alain Delon, a famous actor. When Stevan Markovic's body is found wrapped in a plastic bag in landfill, police investigate and uncover his close relationship to Delon, links to the Parisian underworld, and even a potential scandal involving the president.
As the title suggests this delves into the glitz, glamour, and crime of Paris in the 60s. It is intentionally slow paced, with the story unfolding gradually, giving you the chance to immerse yourself in that time.
The author Edward Chisolm (from the UK) is obviously a bit of a Francophile, his only other book is about his time working as a waiter in Paris. Some reviews say that the book is a bit bloated, but I think this is intentional as Chisolm has a genuine passion for the subject and a lot to say. This is a book about actors, gangsters, police, and the elite of the time, with the common thread of this murder, rather than the other way around.
The lesson is do judge a book by its cover.
7.5/10 --> 4 stars
A Patrick Radden Keefe style deep dive into the 'Markovic Affair', the 1968 murder/political scandal involving the death of a friend of Alain Delon, a famous actor. When Stevan Markovic's body is found wrapped in a plastic bag in landfill, police investigate and uncover his close relationship to Delon, links to the Parisian underworld, and even a potential scandal involving the president.
As the title suggests this delves into the glitz, glamour, and crime of Paris in the 60s. It is intentionally slow paced, with the story unfolding gradually, giving you the chance to immerse yourself in that time.
The author Edward Chisolm (from the UK) is obviously a bit of a Francophile, his only other book is about his time working as a waiter in Paris. Some reviews say that the book is a bit bloated, but I think this is intentional as Chisolm has a genuine passion for the subject and a lot to say. This is a book about actors, gangsters, police, and the elite of the time, with the common thread of this murder, rather than the other way around.
The lesson is do judge a book by its cover.
7.5/10 --> 4 stars
April 22, 2026
Rise up Hatchardians, we have a winner on our hands
May 2, 2026
Thought this was really great. Gripping and unsettling with texture - you can smell the cigarettes and coffee and the rain on the cobbled streets-
May 1, 2026
Too long imo.
May 8, 2026
4.5*
format: audiobook
first off, great narration of the audiobook.
this work of narrative non fiction is indeed almost as gripping as a thriller. i was captivated pretty much from start to finish and had quite a few instances of “one more chapter, must know what happens next”.
i very much appreciate the author’s care of trying to bring 1960’s paris to live and explaining the era and its people - without being condescending or judgmental.
i don’t think i agree with the author at the end of the book on stevan marković. just from what i learned through this book, and without any prior knowledge, stevan and milos milos both appeared to be taking advantage of famous/wealthy people, trying to get a free ride. stevan being banned from all the poker circles because he was a known cheat is telling, no? and those letters badmouthing the hand that helped and fed them in order to themselves appear as something they were not aren’t necessarily helping either. then again, they were very young and evidently drawn to the glitz, glamour, and money without understanding that talent and work (and luck) are needed to achieve such status. i am not saying that stevan deserved what happened to him. most definitely not. no one does. but did he really not have a choice to look for a job instead of insisting that money and employment/visa papers are owed to him? unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to know the truth. the earlier letters of stevan are full of posturing, the later letters appear paranoid.
nonetheless, this was a captivating read and the author weaved together all the parts (cinema, politics, culture, the criminal underbelly, loyalties & friendships) so well and made for an absorbing well paced read. truly enjoyed listening to the audiobook and my mind keeps wandering back to it.
format: audiobook
first off, great narration of the audiobook.
this work of narrative non fiction is indeed almost as gripping as a thriller. i was captivated pretty much from start to finish and had quite a few instances of “one more chapter, must know what happens next”.
i very much appreciate the author’s care of trying to bring 1960’s paris to live and explaining the era and its people - without being condescending or judgmental.
i don’t think i agree with the author at the end of the book on stevan marković. just from what i learned through this book, and without any prior knowledge, stevan and milos milos both appeared to be taking advantage of famous/wealthy people, trying to get a free ride. stevan being banned from all the poker circles because he was a known cheat is telling, no? and those letters badmouthing the hand that helped and fed them in order to themselves appear as something they were not aren’t necessarily helping either. then again, they were very young and evidently drawn to the glitz, glamour, and money without understanding that talent and work (and luck) are needed to achieve such status. i am not saying that stevan deserved what happened to him. most definitely not. no one does. but did he really not have a choice to look for a job instead of insisting that money and employment/visa papers are owed to him? unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to know the truth. the earlier letters of stevan are full of posturing, the later letters appear paranoid.
nonetheless, this was a captivating read and the author weaved together all the parts (cinema, politics, culture, the criminal underbelly, loyalties & friendships) so well and made for an absorbing well paced read. truly enjoyed listening to the audiobook and my mind keeps wandering back to it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
this was overlong and overwritten, obscuring what would have been a fascinating story in the hands of a more restrained, competent writer. after all the drama around Shy Girl and the brilliant frankie's shelf video that dug into that book's allegedly AI-generated prose, I couldn't help but notice so many shygirl-isms in Chisholm's writing. Whether it was the frequent 'too x, too y' construction, the incessant use of 'it's not just x, its y' or similar phrasings or indeed every other sentence that was determined to be all punchy, all the time, I started to get the sense that Chisholm was taking the piss. I don't actually think that chatgpt was involved in this book - it's not that awful - but I do think it's the kind of
where chatgpt has this overblown style of writing out of its fundamental inability to understand rhythym and context, here it feels that Chisholm reaches towards the same style out of an insecurity in his material. Each sentence or paragraph is treated as his one and only change to convince the reader of how interesting and serious and dare i say, profound, this historical case is with very little variation or intent behind this constant intensity.
wonderfully purgatorial experience watching this movie in the Astor, each of its three sections themselves as long as a (long) movie. truly felt my attention, my alertness and just the basic needs of my body as tangible components of the art that slowly frayed over the course of the afternoon/evening, whether i was rationing out ten kernels of popcorn per shot during the middle half or lapsing into drowsiness as the characters struggled to do the same at the decrepit mansion Irimias leads them to.
beyond this meta-experience, does the length serve the movie? i think so. within each long, trudging sequence, each action the characters take - from dancing to dictation - is often repeated ad nauseam, until all meaning or intentionality fades away. it is as if the movie is populated with automata, or more appropriately, ghosts, drinking themselves into a stupor even though they have long since drowned in cobwebs. one moment towards the end that really stuck with me is right after Irimias has given the villagers their new orders they just stand there vacantly in eerie stillness for just a bit too long.
after irimias has given the villagers their orders and new lives they just stand there vacantly, dancers for whom the music - either their own petty squabbles or Irimias' hypnotic tune - has stopped and who are incapable of moving on their own. z
where chatgpt has this overblown style of writing out of its fundamental inability to understand rhythym and context, here it feels that Chisholm reaches towards the same style out of an insecurity in his material. Each sentence or paragraph is treated as his one and only change to convince the reader of how interesting and serious and dare i say, profound, this historical case is with very little variation or intent behind this constant intensity.
wonderfully purgatorial experience watching this movie in the Astor, each of its three sections themselves as long as a (long) movie. truly felt my attention, my alertness and just the basic needs of my body as tangible components of the art that slowly frayed over the course of the afternoon/evening, whether i was rationing out ten kernels of popcorn per shot during the middle half or lapsing into drowsiness as the characters struggled to do the same at the decrepit mansion Irimias leads them to.
beyond this meta-experience, does the length serve the movie? i think so. within each long, trudging sequence, each action the characters take - from dancing to dictation - is often repeated ad nauseam, until all meaning or intentionality fades away. it is as if the movie is populated with automata, or more appropriately, ghosts, drinking themselves into a stupor even though they have long since drowned in cobwebs. one moment towards the end that really stuck with me is right after Irimias has given the villagers their new orders they just stand there vacantly in eerie stillness for just a bit too long.
after irimias has given the villagers their orders and new lives they just stand there vacantly, dancers for whom the music - either their own petty squabbles or Irimias' hypnotic tune - has stopped and who are incapable of moving on their own. z
May 19, 2026
I can post this finally
So long and so bad omgggg it read like a ChatGPT dramatization of an unchangeably boring historical account. I could forgive the historical account thing bc okay if you wanna write a book about something write a book about it, but what is with the dramatic line breaks after EVERY SENTENCE and all the AI-sounding sentence structures? I think this author must just use so much AI that the style has seeped into his own writing and it's not good sorry.
So long and so bad omgggg it read like a ChatGPT dramatization of an unchangeably boring historical account. I could forgive the historical account thing bc okay if you wanna write a book about something write a book about it, but what is with the dramatic line breaks after EVERY SENTENCE and all the AI-sounding sentence structures? I think this author must just use so much AI that the style has seeped into his own writing and it's not good sorry.
April 28, 2026
The French seem to occupy a certain unique recipe for living, for it possesses a combination of flavours untasted by the common tongue. Yet the writer’s attempt to translate these recipes into language basically just burned the whole scroll. Not even a peck of justice to the richness it seeks to preserve. The death of modern literature stems from tasteless prose like such.
May 17, 2026
This was brilliant. Beautifully written with an incredible narrative. Reads and flows more like historical fiction. I was utterly immersed in a darker side of 1960s Paris- fantastic. 4.5 ⭐️ my first EC book and certainly not my last. Now longing to read a Waiter in Paris ❤️
May 8, 2026
If this story was delivered as a script, you'd say it's pushing plausibility - a riveting account of cinema, crime, politics and secrets, it's like a Tom Ripley caper on steroids.
May 14, 2026
Once you manage to move past the author's very obvious romanticisation of Alain Delon, this is a magnificent read.
May 15, 2026
Fascinating story with many layers; great pace, though not as good as A Waiter in Paris. The writing feels more performative and less raw than when Chisholm was telling his own story.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
An explosive combination of late-60s film-star glamour and murky criminal underworld, I came to this one cold, knowing nothing about the Marković Affair or Alain Delon, and admittedly, not very much about New Wave cinema. But I'd heard nothing but good things about Chisolm's memoir Waiter in Paris, and his latest had me at the first sentence, "The body is found by accident at first light". The body is that of Stevan Marković - initially thought to be a vagrant, but manicured hands and expensive clothes say otherwise. He’s soon connected to the enigmatic Alain Delon, French cinema icon and at the time, described as ‘The most beautiful man in the world’.
The book is Chisolm’s attempt to unravel the lives of Marković and Delon and what led to Marković’s death. Their connections involve a tempestuous marriage, celebrity, gangsters, blackmail, affairs, and scandal with links all the way to the heights of French politics. I found it a bit of a slow burn to start, rewinding to the late 50s, so we get to know the main players (I could have done with a character list), but Chisolm paints an atmospheric, immersive picture of post-war France, with a difficult, high-profile murder investigation set amid presidential elections and civil unrest. Like audiences at the time, Chisolm himself is captivated by Delon, and the book unfolds like a film noir. It’s a captivating, well-constructed mix of true crime, French history and biography. Strong 4.5 stars for me.
The book is Chisolm’s attempt to unravel the lives of Marković and Delon and what led to Marković’s death. Their connections involve a tempestuous marriage, celebrity, gangsters, blackmail, affairs, and scandal with links all the way to the heights of French politics. I found it a bit of a slow burn to start, rewinding to the late 50s, so we get to know the main players (I could have done with a character list), but Chisolm paints an atmospheric, immersive picture of post-war France, with a difficult, high-profile murder investigation set amid presidential elections and civil unrest. Like audiences at the time, Chisolm himself is captivated by Delon, and the book unfolds like a film noir. It’s a captivating, well-constructed mix of true crime, French history and biography. Strong 4.5 stars for me.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews