Camille

Camille: The Commandant Camille Verhoeven Trilogy by Pierre Lemaitre
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In September 2013 I read the book “Alex” by Pierre Lemaitre without realising this was the second installment of the Commandant Camille Verhoeven trilogy. “Camille” is the third and final part. I missed the first: “Irène” but this has not spoilt the enjoyment of reading this brilliant crime thriller.

Commandant Camille Verhoeven of the Brigade Criminelle has to deal with the most brutal crimes against women. “Camille” includes carefully calibrated scenes of horrific violence. But the crimes we witness are never quite what they seem. This is the kind of book that will keep you up late; it did, me.

Camille begins on Day 1 at 10am with a brief meditation on how an event such as the one that is about to unfold, might destabilise your life. The book is full of shocks but the rewards are great. An armed robbery is carried out in a jewellery store in the upmarket Galerie Monier in Paris. A woman who witnessed the robbery is brutally attacked and left for dead. She happens to be Camille’s lover....

If you have not read the first two books in this trilogy it is of no matter as the threads can be picked up. It is superbly constructed and executed and fully deserves its CWA International Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel.

I have to decide now whether or not to read book 1....


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