The Alibi Club

By Francine Mathews

Book Overview

It's the city's most infamous after-hours haunt--a glittering hotbed of deals and debaucheries. The sordid death of Philip Stilwell sends shock waves through the Alibi Club...for there's much more to Stilwell's untimely end than a sex game gone wrong. His murder and the desperate attempt to keep a deadly weapon out of German hands will bring together the strands of a twisted plot of betrayal, passion, and espionage--one connected to the Alibi Club...and to the most explosive secret of the war.

As the Nazis march on Paris and the crisis escalates, four remarkable characters are swept into the maelstrom. Their courage will change the course of history.

Epic and yet intimate, a seamless blend of fact and fiction based on a little-known episode of the war, The Alibi Club is a thriller of fierce and complex suspense by a writer whose own life in the spy world makes espionage come uniquely alive.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553586300
• ISBN13: 9780553586305
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Very well crafted

I think this is one of Francine's best books. The milieu is absorbing, and the story compelling. The cast of characters take a bit of time to get to know, but once you're involved you won't want this book to end.

deep look at 1940 Paris

In 1940 Paris, American model Sally King awaits the arrival of her lover Philip Stilwell even as news that the Nazis had broken the French army causing a massive retreat. Though his note said he would be late arriving at the restaurant, when he fails to show up she heads to his law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell only to learn from her lover's peer Max Shoop that Philip was dead. The police insist a heart attack, but the Coco Chanel model believes otherwise as she thinks he was murdered. The repercussions of Philip's death reach the notorious Alibi Club, the in night club of the city. While African-American singer, Memphis Jones performs at the Alibi Club, others discuss the death of Stilwell especially since the freakishly tall Sally pushes for an investigation before the Nazis reach the city. At the same time Joe Hearst of the American embassy knows that the Germans and others may have connected Stilwell to a secret retained by Irene Curie, the offspring of the renowned scientists. If it falls into the wrong hands the Germans could with little effort devastate the world. Using real persona like the Dulles siblings, Francine Mathews provides a deep look at 1940 Paris just before the Nazi blitzkrieg takes over the city. The whodunit and subsequent amateur investigation are cleverly developed and the mystery of Curie's secret that the Nazis want makes for a strong mystery. However, what makes THE ALIBI CLUB a great thriller is the atmosphere and ambience of the time and place so much so the readers will seek the usual suspects as we will always have Paris. Harriet Klausner