Anne Trager did the world a favor when she decided to translate French crime novels for our pleasure. What a joy!
The blurb points it out very well:
"Winner of France's prestigious Prix du Quai des Orfèvres prize for best crime fiction, named Best Crime Fiction Novel of the Year, and already an international bestseller with over 150,000 copies sold."
Well, dive into the life and world of the French super cop, Chief of Police, Nico Sirsky, when one after the other female bodies appear on their computer screens. What begins as just one murder, change into six others within six days, with the victims being closer in relation to Nico Sirsky. Brutal, ruthless and macabre. That is the only words that can describe the serial murders by someone who knows his stuff. And he has a grudge against Nico Sirsky.
Divorced, lonely, and suddenly in love, Sirsky has his hands full, especially when his ex-wife turns off on her own side track and leaves his teenage son for him to raise. The sources of his emotional pirouettes over the hot coals of doubt and desperation, are lack of sleep, as well as too many people in his inner circle becoming suspects.
A page-turner, a sleep-stealer, a grim adventure! But an excellent addition to the crime thriller genre.
One little glitch though: the quotes from the Bible might be correct, but it is unlikely for non religious people to conjure up instantaneous memory of them. Even devoted Christians might find it a challenge so off the cuff. That was not convincing.
Nonetheless, my first encounter with Anne Trager's translations, was 'The Paris Lawyer' by Sylvie Granotier. 'The 7th Woman' can be regarded as one of the best, but not totally on the same level as far as literary mastery is concerned. It's purely a scientific, investigative tour de force, but equally enjoyable to read though. Enough to inspire me to find the rest of them! Besides, it was written in good taste, not causing the loss of one thunderous drama beat in the highly suspenseful narrative.
This copy was provided through edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com for review.
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