EDWARD CHISHOLM
 

In 1960s Paris, the high-life and the low-life go hand in hand. It is a time of glamour, sports cars, casinos and night clubs with a cast of actresses, petty criminals, high-level gangsters and compromised politicians.  And with French cinema taking the world by storm, the man at the dark heart of it all is an enigmatic film star dubbed 'the most beautiful man in the world'.  

Alain Delon in the 60s

With a shady past and a taste for bad company, Alain Delon lives on the edge. But when a dead body turns up in the outskirts of Paris that turns out to be his associate, Stevan, questions begin to be asked. That Delon shot to stardom playing the stylish and murderous Tom Ripley does not go unnoticed. Is art imitating life or is life imitating art?  And who killed Stevan Marković? 

Corsican Gangster and suspect number 1, François Marcantoni

In this highly original and compelling book, Edward Chisholm, author of the acclaimed A Waiter In Paris submerses the reader into the city’s demimonde and draws us intimately into events as they unfold. And as we inhabit the lives of the players in this extraordinary true-life drama, 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.

 

President Georges Pompidou and his wife Claude

“Highly original, atmospheric and brilliantly conceived, Murder in Paris ’68, a true story, reads like a tremendous thriller: fascinating, disturbing and shrewdly compelling.”

— William Boyd

An engrossing book. Through the story of a murder, it takes us back to Paris in the 1960s. As in A Waiter in Paris, Edward Chisholm pierces the glitter to find the city’s seamy underside. And unlike the police of the time, he seems to have cracked the case.”

— Simon Kuper

 
 

Nathalie Delon, Alain Delon & Stevan Markovic

“Evocative, gripping and beautifully written. I’ve recommended this book to everyone I know!”

— Emerald Fennell

“A tremendous achievement, genre-defining, sexy, supple, scary. Chisholm gets us into the heads of all the characters, with the noir of Ripley and the street style and ineffable cool of New Wave.”

— Jason Solomons, film critic & producer

 
 
 

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Astonishing book, worthy of standing next to George Orwell's Down And Out In Paris And London
– the Daily Mail (Book of the Week)

Chisholm's story is immersive and often thrilling ... He's a fine writer
– the Wall Street Journal

Kitchen Confidential for Generation Z
– Fortune Magazine

Visceral and unbelievably compelling

– Emerald Fennell

A tough little book (…) but important
Financial Times

Compelling reading
The Times Literary Supplement

A WAITER IN PARIS

Go below the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world and right into its glorious underbelly.

The Parisian waiter inhabits a world of inhuman hours, snatched sleep and dive bars; scraping by on coffee, bread and cigarettes, often under sadistic managers, with a wage so low you're fighting your colleagues for tips. Colleagues - including thieves, narcissists, ex-Legionnaires, paperless immigrants, wannabe actors and drug dealers - who are the closest thing to family that you've got.

 

Photo of author with obligatory bookcase and roll neck sweater

 
 

Author|Screenwriter|Copywriter

A bit about me: I am a European based English writer actively developing film projects, whilst working on my next novel.

My first book, A Waiter in Paris, which explored the hidden world of Parisian kitchens and the people that animate it, was published worldwide in May 2022.

In 2021 I was selected by Canal+/StudioCanal to be one of eight screenwriters to attend their Cannes Series Institute Writers Residency for development of my TV series Trespassing.

In 2010 I graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Soon after I moved to Paris. Here began ‘the descent’ during which I spent years doing all sorts of jobs, notably waiting tables, but also bar work, market hand, museum security guard, film extra, selling fish, flogging soft porn, gigging in dive bars, working on a building site, teaching English, and a couple of days when I was paid in cash to tail someone around Paris.

My written work has appeared in The New York Times, the Guardian, Telegraph Weekend Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times magazine, Air Mail, Times Literary Supplement and the Daily Beast.

I have also appeared on television, radio, podcasts, literary and film festivals.

I’m a failed musician that enjoys mountains, speaks fluent French and likes to imagine passable Italian.

For books I am represented by Gordon Wise, for TV & Film, Jethro Thompson both at Curtis Brown Talent & Literary Agency, London

And finally, I am available for freelance creative, TV, editorial or copywriting jobs internationally.