The Hat of Victor Noir

An engaging debut novel by Anglo-Czech writer Mathews. The story is set in present-day Paris where the Anglo-Serbian hero, Philip Kovacs teaches. Divorced from his wife, he becomes embroiled in the affections and hatreds of other females, with potentially disastrous results. Pivotal to these events is the tomb of Victor Noir, a 19th-century journalist shot dead by his mistress's husband, and now a cult symbol for the deepest female fantasies and desires. Contemporary Paris comes to life on the pages, but underneath it all lurks a more magical, surreal city, waiting to confound our hero. The novel can be read as a battle from darkness to light. There are several oblique references to "The Prisoner" TV series. It's cleverly written, with much innocent humour, including a flippant "Papa?", "Nicole?" exchange at a particularly poignant moment in the plot. The thought of Kovacs having his face burnt away by acid thrown by a maniac is said to be "discountenancing". The language is a delight. Mathews, like others from a dual-language background, revels in word-play. Writers such as Nabokov, Kerouac, and Dylan Thomas spring to mind, and there's also a certain similarity to the style of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Maybe it's the French connection. The characters, including an anglophobic police inspector, and a black Brazilian visitor who befriends Kovacs, are all colourful, three-dimensional and completely believable, and this well-crafted novel is a joy to read.