Murder at the Bijou originally titled Nothing More Than Murder is noir master Jim Thompsons dizzying tale of deception adultery revenge arson and coldblooded murder in Smalltown USA Thompsons favorite setting In this novel Thompsons first major success as a pulp fiction writer Joe Wilmot trying to go straight after a stretch in the pen finds a movie house in a small crossroads that can use a helping hand someone with half a brain for business The theaters owner Elizabeth isnt the smartest operator around or is she Joe and the plain Jane Elizabeth decide maybe it would be better for business if they got married Why not And then Carol shows up a bit stale in the eye candy department but ready and willing to serve in every way Theyve got insurance coverage on the movie house their lives would all be better if the place maybe had an accident a little fire But things can go very wrong And in Murder at the Bijou they do Fans of Jim Thompson will recognize the terse dialogue plot twists and doublecrosses and a belief that nothing in the world in good all of which makes Stephen King say that Jim Thompson is My favorite crime novelist often imitated but never duplicated