Dark Diversions by John Ralston Saul (Penguin UK, 2013; 336 pages) is a black comedy of international proportions. The novel follows an investigative narrator moving through privileged circles in New York and Paris, while also encountering dictators and political intrigue in Morocco and Haiti during the late 20th century. With savage wit, Saul juxtaposes the debauchery of aristocrats—secret lovers, exiled princesses, bizarre deaths, and religious heresies—with the corruption and double?dealing of authoritarian regimes.