The Double Death of Frédéric Belot (1932) by Claude Aveline

Evgen Avstine was a French editor, poet, publisher and writer born to Russian-Jewish parents who wrote everything from non-fiction, poetry, novels, radio dramas, screenplays and stage plays – published under his penname "Claude Aveline." The detective novel was not overlooked by Aveline. While not a prolific mystery novelist, Aveline delivered a celebrated, often reprinted classic of the French detective novel with La double mort de Frédéric Belot (The Double Death of Frédéric Belot, 1932). A novel that has been cited as a major inspiration for Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.The Double Death of Frédéric Belot was not only translated into English by Ann Lindsay and published in 1940, but the translation was reprinted three times over the following decades. After the last reprint from 1974, Aveline and The Double Death of Frédéric Belot appear to have been largely forgotten outside of the Francophone world. I decided to finally take a look at this reputed French masterpiece, because…

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