Irene

Description

For Commandant Verhoeven life is beautiful: he's happily married, and expecting his first child with the lovely Irene. But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder so savage that even the most hardened officers on the force are shaken to the core. In the face of the seemingly motiveless horror, only Verhoeven makes the vital connection - the crime scene resembles one described in a James Ellroy novel too closely for there to be any coincidence. As the stylised murders continue, Verhoeven traces the crimes' literary inspirations, and risks his superiors' ire by taking out adverts to inform the killer of his progress. Before long, the case develops into a personal duel, with each man hell-bent on outsmarting his opponent. There can only be one winner - whoever has the least to lose...

Awards

Winner of Prix du Roman Policier du Festival de Cognac 2006.

Author description

Pierre Lemaitre was born in Paris in 1956. He worked for many years as a teacher of literature and now devotes his time to writing novels and screenplays. Frank Wynne is a translator from French and Spanish. His translations include works by Michel Houellebecq, Marcelo Figueras's IFFP-shortlisted Kamchatka and Alex by Pierre Lemaitre.