In the third book of the ‘Saint-Louis’ trilogy, Chief Inspector Georges Gorski is stuck living at home with his ailing mother and investigating the death of a lap dog. His perambulations between the bars of a smallish French town near the Swiss border are soon interrupted by the appearance of a stranger, the accusation that a son wishes to kill his elderly mother, and the sudden death of a businessman.

The stranger in town is Yugoslavian (the novel is set around 1980). The ‘Slav’ – who may or may not be involved in two deaths in Saint-Louis – seems to have more awareness of the town than its police chief and runs Gorski in circles. Indeed, with the death of the businessman, even the town’s hairdresser knows more than Gorski. The son accused by his mother of wishing her dead is writing a novel, with its title the same as this book’s. Gorski’s a flâneur – he walks the streets of his town, often without more purpose than to travel between a bar and a restaurant. He’s a ‘buttoned-up petty bureaucrat’ who feels he lacks authority and has difficulty making clear decisions. His mental turmoil, rather than crime, drives the narrative.

There are mirrored actions between characters within the novel, and between the characters and the ‘author’. This references the superb ‘meta’ element to this book, whereby Burnet, rather than identify as author, supposedly acts as interpreter to his ‘Gallic doppelgänger’, French author ‘Raymond Brunet’. This one-step removal – from author to translator – blurs the authorial position, prioritising the novel’s purported ‘Frenchness’. Burnet even provides an explanation of his alter ego’s style in the afterword. Genius.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I am the author of four novels, the Booker shortlisted His Bloody Project, Booker longlisted Case Study, The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau and The Accident on the A35.

I was born in Kilmarnock in Scotland and now live in Glasgow. I’ve previously lived and worked in Prague, Porto, Bordeaux and London.

Case Study has been named as one of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022. It was also shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, Ned Kelly International Crime Prize and longlisted for the Booker Prize, Dublin Literary Award and the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown award.

His Bloody Project has been published in over 20 languages including German, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, Farsi and Estonian.

My story Wolverine Blues, or a Case of Defiance Neurosis, based on a case history by Alphonse Maeder, is currently on BBC Sounds.

Visit Graeme Macrae Burnet’s website