Intrigue in a Broadway theater

UPGRADE ; DAY

Playwright and novelist, winner of several literary prizes, Victor Guilbert takes his readers on an adventure in which theater plays a large role in his new book, Brouillards . Set in New York City as the city is hit by a strange weather phenomenon, the thriller explores behind the scenes of the mysterious Edmond Theater, where an important object has been hidden. And where a murder was committed.

The story begins with the assassination, by CIA agents, of a French secret service spy, Marcel Marchand. He was killed in the Edmond Theater prop store.

Before dying, Marchand, suspected of treason, had time to hide a mysterious object in the jumble of sets, costumes and stage props. And he had time to write a name on a piece of paper: Boloren.

However, former police officer Hugo Boloren has found a new occupation: he is studying to become a zythologist – an expert in beers. The secret services recruit him and charge him with finding the coveted object. He must infiltrate the Broadway theater at all costs. And he will meet very strange characters: a stage manager who looks like Mary Poppins, an old actress who has lost her mind, a blind lighting designer, an intriguing consul…

A talented theater man and writer , Victor Guilbert had long wanted to set one of his stories in this universe he knows very well. “I originally came from the world of theatre,” he said in an interview.

“I started as an actor, singer, then I started writing plays, songs. This is my third mystery novel, but the first, Douve, was originally a play. 

The Edmond Theater that it described in the novel does not exist. 

“I've wanted to do an investigation in a theater for a long time and because it lends itself to it. Since I don't live very far from Broadway, I found it fun to create a kind of French-language theater on Broadway. I tried to make it vaguely realistic, but… it doesn't exist! 

Does Hugo Boloren, who is leading the investigation, look like him? 

“Partly yes, partly no. There are things that are a little inspired by me, but there is a lot of invention. He's a pretty theatrical character and I put a lot of strong traits, like the fact that he's passionate about beer. He's a somewhat melancholy, somewhat lunar character. »

In the mist

Victor Guilbert also exploits the weather in the plot , with a haze that lingers in the city. 

“I like the weird, slightly strange side of the mist. We always associate it with something that is a little scary. »

« I find it interesting, the haze, in New York. It is a vertical city that we look at with our heads in the air. The fact that it is in the mist, it erases the whole side of skyscrapers, floors. It locks the theater in even more, which already has a pretty strong closed-door side.