Bellissimo e imprevedibile, un noir che è tutto una sorpresa, dall’inizio alla fine, un perfetto gioco di specchi che si muove tra presente e passato – sia prossimo che remoto - in un continuo rincorrersi di eventi che troveranno soluzione e spiegazione solo nello sconcertante finale.
Punto di forza del racconto tutti i diversi personaggi, sapientemente caratterizzati dall’autore, che danno vita a una vicenda drammatica e intricata a cui fa da sfondo Claude Monet, i suoi dipinti, la sua casa e il paese di Giverny in Normandia.
Una lettura che si è rivelata una bellissima sorpresa, avvincente, coinvolgente e appassionante.
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This murder mystery is set in the small town in Giverny in France, where Claude Monet lived out his years, and where his house is still a tourist attraction today.

The mystery starts when the body of a well known philanderer is found murdered in the river. The police investigation is headed up by Inspector Laurenc Serenac, a newcomer to the village, and he is assisted mainly by Inspector Sylvio Benavides. Complications arise when Serenac is attracted to the local schoolteacher Stephanie Dupain, who is pivotal to his investigation.

Meanwhile, a young girl named Fanette, who also lives in the village, dreams of one day becoming a famous painter like Monet; a large part of the story revolves around Fanette and her various schoolfriend, who are pupils of the aforementioned Stephanie.

Finally, there is an old lady, who watches the police and the various goings on in the village from a detached viewpoint. She has lived in the village all of her life but is clearly something of a recluse, with her dog Neptune being her only companion.

The old lady’s chapters are told in the first person, but the rest of the story is told in the third person.

I had high hopes for this book, but sadly came away disappointed. The story seemed very disjointed and the police investigation seemed ludicrous. The book was originally written in French and I’m not sure if it was the translation or not, but the writing seemed very clunky and didn’t flow well. Like Bussi’s book ‘Don’t Let Go’ there is very little in the way of characterisation, but while that book did at least have a lot of action, this one seemed to stagnate in a lot of places. I kept reading until the end, as the blurb on the cover promised a huge twist. Well…..there is one and I’m not going to reveal it, but suffice to say that it was ridiculous and just made me really annoyed. Twists are great when they are revealed and then you look back and see that the clues were there all along, but this was not one of those and I ended up feeling cheated.

The one thing I did enjoy were the descriptions of Monet’s house and gardens, as well as Giverny itself. I would like to visit there one day. Other than that though, this one is a thumbs down from me. ( )

Very different murder mystery. Very unique writing, so interesting! Couldn’t put it down! ( )

Unique format to this mystery book. Quite the story! Very enjoyable read. ( )

Something didn't feel quite right about this book most of the time I was reading it. I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the nearly-but-not-quite omniscient narrator, maybe the storyline with the children who never seemed quite like real people and spoke in italics for no apparent reason, maybe the slightly unsavoury whiff that hung around a lot of the other characters too - the vomit inducing sexy schoolteacher, the police chief who came across as juvenile, out of his depth and at the mercy of his sex drive. Some of the reported conversations between the two cops were bizarre. But there are some very clever conjuring tricks at play here. Like the excellent "After the Crash", this delivers a proper turn-your-head-inside-out twist, and were I to read the whole thing again the issues I listed above would all have been resolved, and furthermore there was a massive clue hiding in plain sight throughout that I failed to spot. I love it when that happens. Bravo Monsieur Bussi, you have done it again. ( )