With a shady past and a taste for bad company and high-living, Delon lived on the edge. But when a dead body turns up in the outskirts of Paris that turns out to be Stevan Markovic, Delon's friend, 'bodyguard' and associate, questions start to be asked. That Delon shot to stardom playing Tom Ripley with all those stylish and murderous associations does not go unnoticed. Is art imitating life or is life imitating art? What is Delon involved in? And who was Stevan Markovic?

In an exceptionally skilful and highly readable work of narrative non-fiction, Edward Chisholm uses his own detailed in-depth research to weave the reader into an intimate patchwork of events as they unfold, submersing us in 1960s Paris. And as we meet the characters - actresses, directors, petty criminals, state prosecutors, high-level gangsters, star-struck policemen, compromised politicians - we witness what became to be known as The Markovic Affair from the inside, as it spirals out of control and not only pulls down Alain Delon but everyone in his orbit.