Traffic, power, art… An investigation in the heart of Montmartre rewarded with the Quai des Orfèvres Prize

See my news
Follow Paris News

A prestigious award in the world of French crime fiction. Tuesday, November 5, 2024, the Quai des Orfèvres literary prize ceremony was held in Paris, at 36 rue du Bastion in the 17th arrondissement. For this 79th edition, This is the novel “Post Mortem”, by Olivier Tournut who was rewarded.

Savage crime and art trafficking

This is the author's first novel. The latter, born in Belfort, is Secretary General of the National Gaming Authority in Paris. A great reader of detective literature, he explained during the award ceremony that it took four years to finalize his manuscript.

The novel immerses us in the beautiful neighborhoods of Montmartre and follows the investigation of two inspectors from the capital. In a large empty apartment, a brutally mutilated body is found tied to a chair. Next to the corpse, a painting by Vincent Van Gogh, missing since the Second World War.

A prestigious award

Since 1946, the Quai des Orfèvres prize has rewarded the author of a detective novel. The jury, chaired by director of the Parisian judicial policeis made up of police officers, magistrates and even specialized journalists. Each year, a personality also comes to sponsor the event. For this 79th edition, it is the actor, director and former police officer Olivier Marchal who was present.

If the literary quality of the work is a criterion of choice for the prize, the realism of the investigation is also taken into account. The winner sees his work printed in more than 50,000 copies by Fayard editions, and is given a sum of 777 euros.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.