French Windows by Antoine Laurain

The novels of Antoine Laurain are filled with Parisian charm, and like all his books, this mystery is recommended. Of course, being Laurain, this is not a conventional mystery.

Nathalia is an enigma whom Dr. Faber cannot solve. A photographer unable to work after witnessing a murder, she arrives at the psychotherapist's office unused to therapy, offering little information. Faber is fine with silence; they will get there in time.

Detached from life, but an active observer, he proposes she write stories about the residents she sees in the apartment across from her window. Beginning on the ground floor, where Alice Larjac works from home as a personal coach. Above her, Alban is a well-known cartoonist who loses weight to impress someone. Vega writes song lyrics and has a cat named Belphegor. On the third floor, Lacour is the elite of the banking world, who gives it all up for Scotland. On the top floor is a hypnotist who successfully helps his patient stop smoking. Faber finds each tenant can be traced and these are not mere fantasies. She may be protecting herself through these identities, but that is about to change.

Laurian takes the reader far afield before tying it all up in a neat bow. Readers of his work will find hints back to his previous novels, as if his characters are part of a larger circle. Clever, stylish, and compelling, it's easy to forget the ghastly secret that brought her to Doctor Faber in the first place. Laurian is always recommended.

2023 (translated 2024) / Tradeback / 176 pages