An American widow, her adult son and her cat depart New York for Paris. French Exit explains why this is necessary, introduces us to the characters they meet and recounts their adventures.

Frances Price, the widow, is a striking woman of 65 years; Malcolm, her son in his early 30s, is moody and withdrawn; and Small Frank, the cat, is elderly to the point of decrepitude. It’s 20 years since Franklin Price, the husband, died. He was a lawyer whose main purpose in life was to amass a fortune. He achieved that, fathered a child he didn’t want, had a massive heart attack and died.

Small Frank was in the room when the husband died but Frances was out. She arrived home, found the body, packed a bag and went off skiing for the weekend. She didn’t phone for an ambulance, alert the funeral directors or call the police. She just left, leaving the cat to nestle up against the corpse.

On board the ship to France, Malcolm meets Madeleine, a psychic, who claims to be able to communicate with the dead. They agree to meet in Paris.

When Small Frank goes missing, Frances – who is convinced the cat houses the spirit of her dead husband – demands that Madeleine be found so that a seance can be held. Julius, a private investigator, is hired.

French Exit is a satire with touches of light humour and fans of the author will be delighted that he has again put pen to paper. I, however, did not enjoy reading the book. I thought the peripheral characters were far more intriguing than Frances or Malcolm … and the cat should’ve been euthanised by page three. It’s a slim novel with short chapters and just 244 pages.

Reviewed by Clive Hodges