Last night Mademoiselle Duchêne was seen heading into the Gallery of Horrors at the Musée Augustin waxworks alive. Today she was found in the Seine murdered. The museum's proprietor long perturbed by the unnatural vitality of his figures claims that he saw one of them following the victim into the dark; a lead that Henri Bencolin head of the Paris police and expert of impossible crimes cannot resist. Surrounded by the eerie noises of the night Bencolin prepares to enter the ill-fated waxworks. Waiting within beneath the glass-eyed gaze of a leering waxen satyr is a gruesome discovery and the first clues of a twisted and ingenious mystery. First published in 1932 at the height of crime fiction's Golden Age this macabre and atmospheric dive into the murky underground of Parisian society presents a puzzle delivered at a stunning pace.
John Telfer has worked extensively in theatre, including Bristol and London Old Vics, the Royal National Theatre and abroad. His numerous television appearances include five years in Bergerac, playing... more
