A Murder of Convenience

1953. Postwar Paris. Although not yet fully recovered from privations suffered under the Vichy government and the German Occupation, intellectual life in Paris is flourishing; the cafes are abuzz with philosophers and artists. Drawn to this milieu, where the American dollar goes very far, come a stream of American students. To a A Left Bank pension run by an anti-Semitic old French woman, come four American students, two of them Jewish. They will be her nemesis when they uncover a shameful act in her past. The Americans' pleasant life in Paris, studying life from the outdoor cafes, gossiping, falling in love, occasionally even studying, is interrupted when a mysterious young woman, a newcomer to their building, is found murdered. The Police Judiciare investigate. A handsome young veteran of the French war in Indochina who serves as their interpreter begins an affair with one of the American girls, and in the course of it will glean critical bits of information enabling him to bring together seemingly separate strands from the past and present to solve the murder.