This week on Jen’s Jewels, I’m chatting with the #1 international bestselling author Matthew Blake about his mesmerizing new thriller, A MURDER IN PARIS. Set against the opulent yet haunting backdrop of the famed Hotel Lutetia, this gripping story intertwines memory, mystery, and the lingering echoes of the past. With dual timelines spanning World War II and the present day, Blake masterfully explores how truth and guilt ripple across generations. In our conversation, he shares the inspiration behind the novel, the fascinating science of memory, and why the past is never quite as it seems.
Jen: What inspired A MURDER IN PARIS?
Matthew: I listened to a podcast episode about the Hotel Lutetia and the incredible history of the place. I’d always wanted to set a psychological thriller in a hotel and I knew as soon as I listened to the podcast that I’d found the perfect precinct for a psychological thriller. It’s a glamorous destination hotel but with secrets in the walls.
Jen: Since Olivia is a memory expert, I imagine you had to dive deep into the science of memory. What surprised you most during your research?
Matthew: The thing that surprised me most was how untrustworthy our memories are. We tend to think our memories are like photographs and they stay the same. Actually, we edit out memories every time we access them. For major life events, where we’ve accessed the memory hundreds or thousands of times, the memory we now go back to is not the same as when we originally remembered it. A lot of the things we think about our own lives aren’t true!
Jen: The Hotel Lutetia is such an intriguing setting with a storied past. What made you choose it as the heart of the novel?
Matthew: It is the only Palace Hotel on the famous Left Bank of Paris. And it has a more fascinating history that any other hotel I’ve ever come across. It was the home of the great artists and writers in 1930s Paris, then occupied by the Nazis, then used to house all returning survivors from the Holocaust, and now is a luxury five-star destination hotel that is one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. The hotel is a key character in the book and I loved doing all the research. If you’re visiting Paris on holiday definitely stop by and take a look. You won’t regret it!
Jen: Olivia finds herself torn between her professional expertise and her personal connection to Josephine. How did you go about creating that balance in her character?
Matthew: I love heroes in thrillers who have amazing skills that are challenged by personal events that force the hero to make an impossible choice. Olivia is a memory expert, but it’s all different when the patient is your own grandmother and not a stranger. That conflict between her expertise and her feelings as a granddaughter were incredibly rich to write and get to the heart of Olivia as a character and how we see her through the decisions she makes.
Jen: I love how the narrative shifts between past and present. Was it tricky to weave the wartime storyline with the modern-day thriller?
Matthew: It was one of the main challenges of writing the book. But the hotel is such a key character in the book and that’s what binds the timelines together. Olivia in the present day is walking through the hallways and rooms that her grandmother walked through in 1945. So there is a sense of the past and the present meeting and the secrets of one timeline ricocheting into the present day.
Jen: Guilt, truth, and the fragility of memory are powerful themes here. What message or takeaway do you hope resonates most with readers?
Matthew: I think how mysterious the past really is – even our own pasts. There are so many secrets buried there and mysteries to solve and once you start digging who knows what you’ll find!
Jen: Just for fun—if this book were turned into a TV series, who would you love to see play Olivia and Josephine?
Matthew: There are so many amazing actors who would be perfect for the part. I’m a huge fan of Emily Blunt and she would be perfect for Olivia. Josephine would need a legendary French actor who could inhabit the enigmatic nature of the character and there are too many to name.
Jen: What’s on your TBR pile?
Matthew: I’m currently reading The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown. I’m a complete sucker for all his books and love the mix of history, science, books and mystery alongside a breathless 24-hour action set up – it has everything I want in a thriller.
Jen: What’s next for you? Can you give us a sneak peek at what you’re currently working on?
Matthew: I’m busy working on my next novel which is set in Boston and all about predictions and manifesting!
Jen: How can readers stay in touch with you?
Matthew: I’m on Instagram and TikTok with the handle @matthewblakewriter. DM me – I love hearing from readers!
A MURDER IN PARIS by Matthew Blake
An expert in memory must uncover the truth about her family’s wartime past in this dazzling psychological thriller from the #1 international bestselling author of Anna O.
Olivia Finn is a memory expert at Charing Cross Hospital in London. One night, she receives an urgent call from the police at the Hotel Lutetia on Paris’s famous Left Bank. Olivia’s French grandmother, Josephine Benoit, has appeared at the Lutetia in a distressed state claiming she once committed a murder in the hotel at the end of the Second World War.
Traveling to Paris, Olivia finds her grandmother confused. But Josephine insists it is a recovered memory from the past. More disturbingly, hotel records show that a woman did die in that room of the Lutetia in 1945. Could her story really be true?
As people start dying in the present day, Olivia is plunged into a race against time to uncover the truth about Josephine and what really happened all those years ago. Set among the glamorous streets of Paris, this addictive thriller asks: what if a memory could get you killed?
Mystery Historical [Harper, On Sale: September 30, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063314191 / eISBN: 9780063314214]
Buy A MURDER IN PARIS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Matthew Blake
After discovering that the average person spends thirty-three years of their life asleep, Matthew Blake felt the pull of a story. He began extensive research into sleep-related crimes and into the mystery illness known as resignation syndrome, research that sparked a thrilling question: if someone commits murder while sleepwalking, are they innocent or guilty? And so his novel Anna O was born.
Before writing fiction, Matthew worked as a researcher and speechwriter at the Palace of Westminster. He studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford and now lives in London.
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About Jennifer Vido
Jennifer Vido writes sweet romances set in the Lowcountry, earning acclaim as the award-winning author of the Gull Island series. Her debut novel, “Serendipity by the Sea,” secured the prestigious Best First Book award from the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest. In 2024, Vido’s talent garnered further accolades, with Baltimore Magazine readers naming her Best Local Author in their annual Best of Baltimore poll, while the Baltimore Sun acknowledged her with an Honorable Mention in their Best of 2024 Author category. When not writing fiction, she interviews authors for her weekly Jen’s Jewels column, leads water exercise classes, and directs a legal nonprofit. Currently residing in Maryland, she and her husband are proud parents to two grown sons and a rescue dog named Fripp.
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