Little demon in the city of light : a true story of murder and mesmerism in Belle Epoque Paris / Steven Levingston.
Documents the brutal 1889 murder of a lascivious court official by a ruthless con man and his pliant mistress, tracing the ensuing manhunt and sensational trial against period debates about whether someone could be hypnotically compelled to commit crimes.
"The thrilling--and so wonderfully French--story of a gruesome 1889 murder of a lascivious court official by a ruthless con man and his pliant mistress, an international manhunt, a sensational trial, and an inquiry into the limits of hypnotic power. In France at the end of the nineteenth century a great debate raged over the question of whether someone could be hypnotically compelled to commit a crime in violation of his or her moral convictions. When Alexandre-Toussaint Gouffe entered a Parisian building at 3 rue Tronson Ducoudray for what he thought would be a delightful assignation with the comely young Gabrielle Bompard, only to be murdered--hanged!--by her and her ruthless companion Michel Eyraud, stuffed in a trunk, and dumped on a riverbank near Lyon, that question became the burning center of an inquiry into the guilt or innocence of a woman the French tabloids dubbed "The Little Demon.""-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780385536042
- ISBN: 0385536046
- Physical Description: 1 online resource.
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Doubleday, [2014]
- Copyright: ©2014
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
Source of Description Note: | Description based on print version record. |
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Genre: | Electronic books. Case studies. True crime stories. |