Irene

September 29, 2014
Lemaitre’s chilling first novel, the second to appear in the U.S. featuring Commandant Camille Verhoeven after 2013’s Alex, finds the Parisian policeman enjoying the professional and personal contentment he never knew was possible. He and his squad are a well-oiled machine, but more importantly, he is happily married to Irène, who is pregnant with their first child. But a murder of unfathomable brutality, followed by another, puts Camille’s career on the line. The murderer, nicknamed the Novelist by the press, appears to be reenacting scenes from crime novels. As the killings escalate, scrutiny of Camille by Philippe Buisson de Chevesne, a journalist with a personal vendetta against him, adds to his woes. Lemaitre slowly reveals the cracks in Camille’s police team while dismantling the detective’s life at home. The plot is unfailingly intriguing, though some readers may wish Lemaitre had lavished less grisly detail on the crime scenes.