Murder in Paris '68

Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2026

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 Markovic, 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 Markovic?

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 Markovic 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, Murder in Paris '68 may be the best non-fiction you read this year.