An excellent debut novel, full of suspense and intrigue
The French Girl of the title is Severine. She went missing when a group of students were spending a holiday in France and she lived next door. Although the students were questioned about her disappearance her body was never found. Until now, that is. Ten years on her bones have finally been discovered.
It brings it all back for Kate. She was one of the students and she keeps seeing Severine everywhere. She is haunting her. Not as a ghost but as a figment of her unconscious mind perhaps.
I loved The French Girl. It's another book that I read in instalments on a daily basis, and I looked forward to each section. I wanted to know what had happened to Severine all those years ago. Was one of Kate's friends a murderer? Was Kate more involved than she was letting on? For much of the story these questions were swirling round in my head until the final half-expected conclusion.
The story is set completely in the current day. I did wonder if we would be thrown back into the past at some point as is often the way, but I was really hoping that that wouldn't happen. I wanted to stay with the way events were unfolding in the current day so I was really pleased with the action staying with the investigation into Severine's death.
I liked Kate very much. She's easily the main character and tells the story. She's just set up her own business as a legal headhunter and I really enjoyed reading the sections about her work. Obviously, the investigation into Severine's death has an impact not only on Kate's private life but on her work life too.
I also really liked Tom and Lara, Kate's two closest friends from that fateful French holiday and beyond. I was hoping and praying that neither of them turned out to be responsible for Severine's death. I'll leave you to read this excellent book to see whether they were or not.
The French Girl is an engrossing thriller about the past coming back to haunt you. I enjoyed the dynamics within the group, the way that none of them seem to quite trust each other and I thought the characterisations were spot on. It's an excellent debut novel, full of suspense and intrigue. I thought it was great.
It brings it all back for Kate. She was one of the students and she keeps seeing Severine everywhere. She is haunting her. Not as a ghost but as a figment of her unconscious mind perhaps.
I loved The French Girl. It's another book that I read in instalments on a daily basis, and I looked forward to each section. I wanted to know what had happened to Severine all those years ago. Was one of Kate's friends a murderer? Was Kate more involved than she was letting on? For much of the story these questions were swirling round in my head until the final half-expected conclusion.
The story is set completely in the current day. I did wonder if we would be thrown back into the past at some point as is often the way, but I was really hoping that that wouldn't happen. I wanted to stay with the way events were unfolding in the current day so I was really pleased with the action staying with the investigation into Severine's death.
I liked Kate very much. She's easily the main character and tells the story. She's just set up her own business as a legal headhunter and I really enjoyed reading the sections about her work. Obviously, the investigation into Severine's death has an impact not only on Kate's private life but on her work life too.
I also really liked Tom and Lara, Kate's two closest friends from that fateful French holiday and beyond. I was hoping and praying that neither of them turned out to be responsible for Severine's death. I'll leave you to read this excellent book to see whether they were or not.
The French Girl is an engrossing thriller about the past coming back to haunt you. I enjoyed the dynamics within the group, the way that none of them seem to quite trust each other and I thought the characterisations were spot on. It's an excellent debut novel, full of suspense and intrigue. I thought it was great.