Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder in Belle Epoque Paris

In 1889, the gruesome murder of a lascivious court official at the hands of a ruthless con man andhis pliant mistress launched the trial of the century. When Toussaint-Augustin Gouffe entered 3, rue Tronson du Coudray, expecting a delightful assignation with the comely Gabrielle Bompard, he was insteadmurdered by Gabrielle and her lover, Michel Eyraud. An international manhunt chased the infamous couple from Paris to America s West Coast, culminating in a sensational trial that investigated the power of hypnosis to possess, control, and even kill.
As the inquiry into the guilt or innocence of the woman the French tabloids dubbed the Little Demon intensified, the most respected minds in France vehemently debated: Was Gabrielle Bompard the pawn of her mesmerizing lover or simply a coldly calculating murderess capable of killing a man in cold blood?"