Mark Pryor--The Sorbonne Affair

DEBORAH CROMBIE: What fun to have MARK PRYOR, our Jungle Red friend who is English, lives in Austin, and writes books set (mostly) in Paris. I'd call that a real cosmopolitan guy, and I love his character, Hugo Marston. Lucky for me I got to grill Mark about his new Hugo novel, THE SORBONNE AFFAIR. This series is one of my very favorites of the last few years, and I can't believe this is the seventh book already!

Before we start, let me get you up to speed with a little a snippet about THE SORBONNE AFFAIR:

Someone is spying on American author Helen Hancock. While in Paris to conduct research and teach a small class of writers, she discovers a spy camera hidden in her room at the Sorbonne Hotel. She notifies the US Embassy, and former FBI profiler Hugo Marston is dispatched to investigate.

Almost immediately, the stakes are raised from surveillance to murder when the hotel employee who appears to be responsible for bugging Hancock’s suite is found dead. The next day, a salacious video clip explodes across the Internet, showing the author in the embrace of one of her writing students—both are naked, and nothing is left to the imagination.

As more bodies pile up, the list of suspects narrows; but everyone at the Sorbonne Hotel has something to hide, and no one is being fully honest with Hugo. He teams up with Lieutenant Camille Lerens to solve the case, but a close call on the streets of Paris proves that he could be the killer’s next target.

DEBS: In some ways this book seems an homage, both to the classic mystery and to the espionage novels of the mid-twentieth century. Even the title, The Sorbonne Affair, made me think of books like Helen MacInnes's The Venetian Affair. Were you inspired by that era, and if so do you have favorite authors or novels?

MARK: That’s the era I grew up in, reading books that were both espionage and crime thrillers. Living in the English countryside, it was an exciting way for me to see other parts of the world, and to learn more about the Second World War, which has always fascinated me. I was reading a lot of domestic mysteries, too, though, like Agatha Christie and the Sherlock Holmes, so I suppose it’s inevitable that my own novels reflect streaks of all of that.

As far as favorites, the authors themselves are different these days but the genres and topics are not. Right now, Philip Kerr is an author I admire and enjoy, as is Alan Furst. And what do they write? Mysteries and spy stories set during the Second World War...!

DEBS: Not to downplay the suspense--there is plenty--but this book seemed to me like a love letter to Paris. It made me want to walk the Paris streets, sit in cafes drinking coffee, and eat pastries! Tell us about your very difficult research:-)

MARK: Thank you, Debs, and it’s a struggle for sure. Every year I have to make the trek to Paris to ensure I’m not missing out on anything, slogging my way through pastries and patio gardens, dragging my weary carcass along boulevards and into parks... but who else is going to do it for me? I’d never ask that of someone else. My wife is kind enough to brave these trials and tribulations with me, so there’s that, but I try to remain cheery as I sip café and wander through Paris’s idyllic cemeteries (idyllic, I suppose, if you’re not a permanent resident).

You know, a couple of years ago a friend of mine gave his wife one of my books, and as a result she insisted they visit Paris. He was actually a little put out, as it wasn’t his first choice. But he’s a kind man and a good husband so he relented and they went. On his return he sought me out and gushed about how they were now doing everything in their power to move to Paris! I was delighted, of course, and every time someone feels, sees, or tastes a little bit of that beautiful city in one of my books it makes me so happy. So thank you!

DEBS: You had a lot of fun with the business of writing. Was there anything, or anyone-- that inspired the Helen Hancock story line (that you can tell us!)

MARK: Not especially but it’s interesting to me that one of the themes of the book arose entirely organically. Hugo, the broad-minded and non-judgmental fellow that he is, repeatedly finds himself being called a snob, something he would rail against. But it’s true, because despite himself he’s surprised to find so many of his friends and colleagues enjoy a good romance novel.

I think this has sprung from a pet peeve of mine, which is people drawing lines around genres and then looking down their noses—we’ve seen it several times in the past year when certain writers have been snotty about crime fiction. I won’t name any names, but the idea that because a book contains a crime, and maybe its solving, the story automatically becomes less worthy is laughable. But the same is true of other genres, like sci-fi or romance. I suppose The Sorbonne Affair is a chance for Hugo to be challenged on this point, and it was rather fun for me to prick him with his own prejudice.

DEBS: Your transgender French police officer Camille Lerens is a major character in the book. We learn a little, along with Hugo, about her transition process. Was Camille inspired by a particular person?

MARK: Camille has become more and more real and important to me, for quite a few reasons, and while she was not inspired by any one individual I think it’s desperately important that (especially white, male, privileged) authors create novels that reflect the world around them, not just the bubbles they’ve lived in. My early books are quite white and vanilla, which is okay to a degree but it’s not where we live. The world is full of people with different skin colors, sexual orientations, gender identities, and while some people may not like or understand these differences, it remains true that they exist. And books should include all these experiences.

To be clear, I didn’t create Camille as some sort of political statement, not at all. She’s there to reflect the real world because there are thousands and thousands of Camilles out there, and just as many Hugos wanting to better understand her, just as there are thousands of people who don’t care to.

So, after the first books I realized I was depriving myself and my characters of the full richness of the world, keeping Hugo from experiencing all of its orientations, so to speak. In The Button Man I gave him Merlyn, who is sweet and kind and thoughtful and kinky (writer Jillian Keenan has argued, and persuasively I think, that kink is itself an orientation). Hugo had to deal with her and face his preconceived notions, and now he has Camille who doesn’t so much challenge the way he thinks (he embraces her for who she is) but he’s not sure how to talk to her about it. So it’s fun for me to work through that with him, and help him grow as a character. And, on the lighter side, force him into a pair of leather assless chaps…

The bottom line is that when authors include likeable, relatable characters who are perhaps in a different demographic, we can confront what we don’t know in a safe way, maybe think a little and learn a little. I don’t know, but I feel like right now the world needs a little more kindness and understanding. Heck, a lot more kindness and understanding, and if one character in one book can be a drop in the bucket towards that, I’ll be thrilled.

DEBS: Who else loved those mid-century espionage thrillers? I read that one of Helen MacInnes's books was used as a manual for training British spies during WWII!

  
And would you want to give Hugo a good talking to for being a genre snob???



Mark Pryor is a former newspaper reporter from England, and now a prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, in Austin, Texas.
He is the author of the Hugo Marston mystery series, set in Paris, London, and Barcelo

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na. The most recent is ​ THE SORBONNE AFFAIR, a "flawlessly constructed whodunit," according to Booklist. His previous novel in the series was THE PARIS LIBRARIAN, which the Toronto Globe & Mail says “has it all… a finely structured plot that’s one of Pryor’s best books yet.”  The first Hugo Marston novel, called THE BOOKSELLER, was a Library Journal Debut of the Month, and called "unputdownable" by Oprah.com, and the series was recently featured in the New York Times.

Mark is also the author of the psychological thriller, HOLLOW MAN, and its sequel, DOMINIC, which will be published in January of 2018. He also created the nationally-recognized true-crime blog 'D.A. Confidential.' As a prosecutor, he has appeared on CBS News's 48 Hours and Discovery Channel's Discovery ID: Cold Blood.