Description
Book SynopsisFrom the author of "His Bloody Project", shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016. There does not appear to be anything remarkable about the fatal car crash on the A35. But one question dogs Inspector Georges Gorski: where has the victim, an outwardly austere lawyer, been on the night of his death? The troubled Gorski finds himself drawn into a mystery that takes him behind the respectable veneer of the sleepy French backwater of Saint-Louis. Graeme Macrae Burnet returns with a literary mystery that will beguile fans of "His Bloody Project" and "The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau". Darkly humorous, subtle and sophisticated, "The Accident on the A35" burrows deep into the psyches of its characters and explores the forgotten corners of small-town life.
Trade ReviewHighly accomplished, The Accident on the A35 works on several levels… The narration has the simple momentum of classic crime writing… It has a denouement like something out of Greek tragedy but delivers as a proper police procedural too… Burnet's cleverness doesn't get in the way of your enjoyment but playfully adds levels of meaning. -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *
"[A] truly superlative tale… fascinating… one of the most clever and compelling novels to be published this year." -- Lesley McDowell * Herald *
“Very much a novel of skillfully drawn characters… With its nostalgic echoes of crime fiction of the past and elegant, economical prose, it affords a variety of quiet and satisfying pleasures.” -- Barry Forshaw * Financial Times *
“Extravagant talent.” -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *
Both a classy detective story and a stylish meditation on agency and existence.If Roland Barthes had written a detective novel, then this would be it.” -- Philip Womack * Literary Review *
“Reads like a lavishly detailed, psychologically accurate, intelligent, well-plotted, unsimple Simenon… Burnet has proved himself to be the literary games-master.” -- David Robinson * Books from Scotland *
“Intriguing… distinctive… atmospheric, often surprising, with a denouement which is beautifully under-played.” -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *
