The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier Review

Title: The Paris Lawyer

Author: Sylvie Granotier (translated by Anne Trager) 

My Rating: 4/5

Part of a series? No

Genre(s): European literature, Mystery.

Description/Blurb:

As a child, Catherine Monsigny was the only witness to her mother's death. Twenty years later as an ambitious attorney in contemporary Paris, she catches a professional break when her boss assigns her to major felony case in rural France. An immigrant stands accused of poisoning her husband, but her secrets are not the only ones hidden in the scenic rolling hills of Creuse. While preparing the defence  Catherine is reunited with images of own past and a high-intensity search for two murderers ensues. Who can she believe? And what will Catherine do with her past should she discover it?

My review: 
Granotier presents the reader with a wonderfully compelling story that I struggled to put down. I ended up finishing the book in just two days as I couldn't stop myself from trying to unravel the mystery of what really happened in Catherine's big case and the mystery that surrounds the murder of Catherine's mother. The description was spot on as well, it was easy to imagine the locations in France both the countryside and more slum like areas. 

There were a couple of slight errors in the translation but I imagine that it's quite difficult to translate a novel perfectly without losing anything from the story so to keep the meaning of it a few words may end up feeling a bit out of place.

I enjoyed the exploration of Catherine's relationships with the people in her life. The father who shuts out the path, the boss who acts as more of a father figure than the man who raised her and the lover whose moods are constantly changing, amongst others. 


I would recommend this novel to fan of mysteries, psychology and crime. This book could also be of interest to somebody who is interested in France and would perhaps recognise some of the locations.

21:37 by Mariusz Czubaj Review

Title: 21:37

Author: Mariusz Czubaj (translated by Anna Hyde)

My Rating: 4/5

Part of a series? Yes, this is book one of the Rudolf Heinz series, but is currently the only one translated into English.

Genre(s): Crime, Mystery, European Literature. 

Description/Blurb:

Rudolf Heinz’s life is far from perfect. His son avoids him, he’s a terrible guitar player, and he lives in constant pain. But there is one thing Rudolf Heinz is really good at – he’s the best profiler in Poland when it comes to serial killers.

When the police find the dead bodies of two young men, their heads covered in plastic bags marked with the numbers 21 and 37, Heinz faces his most challenging case. Taking on a killer who likes to play games, the investigation is complicated when he discovers the victims are priests, and the local police close ranks against him. As he analyses each lead, Heinz’s search for the killer pushes him deep into his own past, unaware that he will soon have to save his own life. And he’s running out of time…

My review: 

My first thought after finishing this book was something along the lines of "I think I might have weaned myself off (Ian Rankins) Rebus books". Czubaj manages to create a gritty believable crime novel that keeps the reader guessing until the end, we have the grizzled police profiler Heinz with his slightly alcoholic tendencies and dysfunctional family life and a personality that takes his colleagues a while to warm to. The case itself is interesting and kept me guessing until the end but it wasn't the only mystery in this story, we have the mystery of Heinz's past to deal with, what exactly was the inquisitor (a series killer from Heinz's past) talking about and why exactly does he want to get in touch with Heinz again all of a sudden. Not everything was solved in this novel but Czubaj gives the reader enough to be satisfied with this novel but holds back enough for the reader to want to read the next instalment in the Heinz series. I know I'm now eagerly awaiting the English translation of the next book.

My only real gripe with this novel is that there are a few faults in the translation, a few turns of phrase that don't work as well in English and a couple of sentences that could have been arranged slightly differently. This doesn't really take away from the enjoyment of the book however as the translation for the most part is good and you can't really expect a novel to be translated perfectly and still retain the writer's style it's just that sometimes I found myself being pulled out of my little fantasy world and instead focusing in the words themselves rather than the story they create.