To The Last Page

Guillaume Musso is one of the bestselling crime fiction writers in France, but up until recently I have remained resolutely loyal to the classics, from Gaston Leroux and Maurice Leblanc to George Simenon and Fred Vargas, not trusting contemporary bestselling as any indicator of quality. Having heard good things about his latest book, L'Inconnue de la Seine (to be published later this year in English translation as The Stranger in the Seine ), and having already impressed with two other prolific contemporary French writers (Olivier Norek, Franck Thilliez), I thought it worth giving this one a go. And yes, based on this one, I'd have to say that Guillaume Musso is up there with the best of modern crime writers anywhere in the world.  What sets L'Inconnue de la Seine out as great here is perhaps the plotting more than the characterisation, but I don't have too many complaints about the latter. As far as plotting goes, while the introduction of police officer Captain Roxa...