Review: Irène

Irène by Pierre Lemaitre

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The diminutive Camille Verhoeven, of the French police, is soon to be a father. His wife, the titular Irene, is never far form his thoughts, but while fatherhood approaches, he's called upon to track down a brutal killer who, they quickly figure out, is paying bloody homage to classic crime novels.

I was so engrossed in Lamaitre's novel that I lost track of time and found myself reading far later into the night than I intended. The plot and characters are well realized, but Lemaitre's sleight of hand is particularly impressive with regards to the killer's motivation; The blending of "fact" and fiction (at least, from the character's perspectives) is brilliantly done. The clues are certainly there; I had noticed the shifting verb tenses earlier in the book and thought it strange, but I assumed that it was something to do with the translation I was reading, or that it was a mistake that hadn't been corrected yet for some reason. It was much later in the book that I finally realized what was happening and why. In retrospect, it feels obvious (in the best way possible), and the identity of the killer and his place in Camille's world are perfectly clear from some of the hints and clues woven through the earlier text. The "twist" was definitely well executed and unexpected on my part.

One of the more interesting and unusual murder mysteries/thrillers I've read in a long time; I look forward to seeing how the character develops in the next book.



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