Paris Requiem

A Novel

Chris Lloyd

A gripping World War II murder mystery—and a beautifully drawn portrait of Paris under Nazi occupation—with compelling and conflicted hero Detective Eddie Giral at its heart.

Paris, 1940.

As the city adjusts to life under Nazi occupation, Detective Eddie Giral struggles to reconcile his job as a policeman with his new role enforcing a regime he cannot believe in, but must work under.

He's sacrificed so much in order to survive in this new world, but the past is not so easily forgotten. When an old friend—and an old flame—reappear, begging for his help, Eddie must decide how far he will go to help those he loves.

The notion of justice itself quickly becomes as dangerous, blurred, and confused as the war itself. And Eddie’s morale compass, ever on unreliable foundations, will be questioned again and again as the ravages of the German occupation steadily attempt to grind him—and the city he loves—into submission.

Negotiating a path between resistance and collaboration, he can remain a good man and do nothing—or risk everything he has achieved in a desperate act of resistance.

Chris Lloyd is the author of The Unwanted Dead (Orion), winner of the Historical Writer’s Association Gold Crown Award. Paris Requiem is his first novel to be published in America. He lived in Catalonia for over twenty years, falling in love with the people, the country, the language and Barcelona Football Club. Chris now lives in Wales, where he is at work on his next novel.

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Endorsements & Reviews

“The detective ekes partial wins out of this amoral game: 'Private triumphs I could share with no one'—except the spellbound reader.” Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

“British author Lloyd makes his U.S. debut with a stellar sequel to 2020’s The Unwanted Dead. Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“[A] superbly atmospheric thriller, which oozes moral ambiguity.” Booklist (starred review)

"This smart historical thriller centers on a WWII-era Paris policeman who finds himself working on behalf of the occupiers, pushing him into a moral crisis and a new case that forces him to confront the true extent of the damage being done to the soul of his city." Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads Editor-in-Chief

"Lloyd paints a vivid picture of Paris: the lines of people trying to buy highly rationed food, the jazz clubs where they try to escape their miseries, and their persistent attempts to block out the brutal facts of the occupation. The plot action is suspenseful and intense. The characters—both heroes and villains—are vividly drawn. This is definitely a captivating read!" Historical Novel Society

Praise for Chris Lloyd’s Detective Eddie Giral series:

“Terrific.” The Sunday Times (London)

“Sharp and compelling.” The Sun (London)

“A thoughtful, haunting thriller.” Mick Herron, international bestselling author of Slough House

“Chris Lloyd's wartime Paris is rougher than Alan Furst's, and Eddie Giral, his French detective, is way edgier than Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther. Ranks alongside both for its convincingly cloying atmosphere of a city subjugated to a foreign power, a plot that reaches across war-torn Europe and into the rifts in the Nazi factions, and a hero who tries to be a good man in a bad world. Powerful stuff.” The Times (London)