A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery!
A GUARDIAN BEST CRIME BOOK AND THRILLER!
Longlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
Award
The Accident on the A35 returns to the scene of Burnet's accomplished
first novel, The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau: the small French town
of Saint-Louis. Detective Gorski is called away from his night of
solitary drinking to the site of a car accident that left Bertrand
Barthelme, a respected solicitor, dead. When the deceased's rather
attractive wife suggests that the crash may not have been an accident,
Gorski looks closer into Barthelme's circumspect movements on the night
of his death. His investigation leads him to various bars, hotels, and
brothels in the nearby city of Strasbourg. At the same time, Barthelme's
rebellious son, drunk on Jean Paul Sartre novels, is conducting an
investigation of his own. Their independent, dual inquiries lead the
reader down a twisted road marked by seedy back rooms, bar brawls, a
moment of accidental incest, and--as we have come to expect from
Burnet--copious amounts of wine.
The Accident on the A35 is a darkly humorous, subtle, and
sophisticated novel that burrows into the psyches of its characters and
explores the dark corners of life in a sleepy town.
