A psychological thriller with a "Russian nesting doll of a plot [that] is perfectly executed and delivers two genuine gut punches at the end" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
From Bernard Minier, the #1 international bestselling author of The Frozen Dead, a masterfully constructed thriller that pushes the limits of the genre.
They find the boy by the swimming pool, dolls floating on its surface.
Inside the house, his teacher lies dead.
But he claims to remember nothing . . .
June 2010. In the middle of a World Cup match, Martin Servaz receives a call from a long-lost lover. A few miles away in the town of Marsac, Classics professor Claire Diemar has been brutally murdered.
As if that weren't disturbing enough, Servaz receives a cryptic e-mail indicating that Julian Hirtmann, the most twisted of all serial killers, is back . . . and hitting a little too close to home. With death and chaos surrounding the small university town in Southern France where he was once a student and where his daughter is now enrolled, Servaz must act quickly.
With the help of detectives Irene Ziegler and Esperandieu, Servaz will have to uncover a world of betrayal and depravity to connect the dots between these gruesome murders that keep re-opening wounds from his past.
"[An] absorbing thriller that will keep readers guessing until the final shocking pages. Set in southern France, this satisfying read will entice fans of dark, gritty Scandinavian thrillers who will find Martin Servaz reminiscent of Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole." —Library Journal, starred review
"[A] clever atmospheric thriller. A gripping read." —The Times, UK