The Minotaur's Hiding-Place

The Cité des Platanes is a complex of buildings at the foot of Montmartre, housing more than 400 apartments. A maze of concrete and stone. In the glass case opposite the concierge's flat – which normally lists the house rules – short messages, disguised as animal fables, suddenly appear. They pose a serious threat to the peace of the neighbourhood. Who writes them – and whom do they address?

Undine Gruenter's book is a labyrinthine moral and a detective story, an artist's novel and a mythology of metropolitan Paris. The more apartments are opened, the more messages of the minotaur appear in the glass case, the wilder the story becomes. Its happy ending is attributable to Luis Gonzales (an alias), the beautiful Dolores (a double-crossing bitch), her son Julio (a would-be detective), and the (real) dog Emile...and to the memory of Julio Cortázar, who used to live just round the corner.