Little Demon in the City of Light

Steven Levingston recounts the sensational 1889 'Gouffe affair,' in which Gabrielle Bompard and her lover Michel Eyraud murdered a Parisian bailiff and shipped his decomposing body to Lyon, sparking a landmark debate over hypnosis as a criminal defence. The book captures Belle Epoque forensic innovation, courtroom spectacle and a notorious femme fatale in vivid detail.

ISBN 9780307950307 · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · 2014