David Benjamin

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courtesy David Benjamin

Author David Benjamin with a Paris backdrop.

David Benjamin

media release: Award-winning Madison writer David Benjamin, author of 19 books, has been exploring Paris for more than 30 years. He knows where to go, what to eat and how to eat it.

Meanwhile, back in the USA, his latest title, CHEAT, the 5th in his Jim Otis detective series, set in the fictional hamlet of Hercules, Wis., is hot off the press.

Benjamin will talk with readers about why we love smalltown sleuthing, at the Fitchburg Community & Senior Center, August 22, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome!

For thirty years, Madison-based author David Benjamin has lived, loved, and wined and dined in Paris. 

He and his wife, Junko Yoshida, an international journalist, have been climbing the stairs to their fifth-floor pied a terre—in a 17th-century building in the Latin Quarter—since 1995.

Three of Benjamin’s novels are set in Paris. In each, Skulduggery in the Latin Quarter (a comic mystery), Three’s a Crowd (a noir comedy) and Bistro Nights (romantic suspense), the author guides readers through a culinary travelog of genial, affordable bistros, with the occasional tip (or warning) about Parisian dishes like escargot, agneau du lait, île flotante and the sheer adventure of saucisse andouille.

All of Benjamin’s Parisian novels have won literary awards. 

If you didn’t get to Paris for the Summer ’24 Olympics or don’t have plans to be there anytime soon, you can read Benjamin’s books and his lively adventures in the City of Light.. No matter whether it’s your first time or next time you fly to France, you’ll have intimate knowledge of life, love, intrigue and fine dining in the world’s most romantic city.

Benjamin puts Parisian priorities bluntly: “You don’t have to be a gourmet to dine splendidly in Paris. I’m definitely not. But if you go unprepared to seek out bistros, bars, cafés and brasseries that bespeak the city’s unparalleled history of imaginative food at reasonable prices, you will be wasting your every evening in Paris.” 

One of Benjamin’s pastimes is setting aside a whole day and taking one of Paris’ Métro lines to the farthest edge of the city, then walking home to his apartment in the city center at “Kilometer Zero. He studies Paris and takes hundreds of photos, pausing along the way for lunch, coffee and kir. He has become a minor authority on Paris’ off-the-beaten-path treasures and surprises. He and Junko have assembled a list of more than fifty reliable and affordable bistros, many of them mentioned by name in his novels.