The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King

Set in the year 1929, in Jazz-age Paris, this story takes us through the glittering literary and artistic set, into the depths of those who take things to extremes, indeed to the brink of insanity and then over the edge into a dark, hellish experience.

Harris Stuyvesant is an American investigator sent to find a young woman who has gone missing in Paris.  The irony is that he had a brief affair with the girl and so his interest in finding her is tinged with personal regret and a sense of a failure to protect her.

The writing in this novel is vivid and evocative and though it is filled with historical nuggets and real world characters, such as Hemingway and Man Ray, it is in no way dry.  

I found that I was drawn strongly into the story and that the fictional characters were written in a way that allowed me to identify with them and feel that all-important connection that makes me want to read on.

This is a story that I can highly recommend.