G N Hetherington

law-enforcement, LGBT, family-dynamics, friendship, France, murder, murder-investigation, small-town, international-crime-and-mystery, triggers, procedural*****

The publisher's blurb is bland and minimal, but I understand their hesitance about giving it all away. The first quarter of the book is an in depth exploration of the characters, Hugo and all of the French participants (except the murder victims). As noted, the first horrific murder occurs before Hugo is sent as the best man to be both neutral and skilled. The second occurs shortly after he acclimates himself to the other characters and the way things are organized in France. In the course of things, he also learns something about himself that he had not really known (boy, does this add to his angst over everything!). This is a very interesting procedural involving local and state politics as well. Read it all in one day because it was THAT compelling!
Henry Douthwaite is the multilingual narrator who kept me from tearing my hair out over French pronunciations while doing a wonderful job with all the voices and really acting out the story and not just reading it. His voice brings the characters to life while his inflections entirely suit the situations and characters.… (altro)