From his home in the mountains of the Ardèche, he wrote fiction in a noir palette with a cast of characters drawn from ordinary provincial life. Though his writing is often very dark in tone, it sparkles with quirkily beautiful imagery and dry wit. Garnier’s work has been likened to the great thr...
The sudden return to silence hurt. Ten fingers began to tap the steering wheel, making a dull, monotonous, rhythmic sound. Like rain. The dashboard dials glowed fluorescent green. There was no other light for miles around. No stars. Just a very faint gleam, over there, behind the hills, revealing...
The young woman was last seen close to the Jean-Jaurès bus stop. She is described as one metre sixty-four centimetres tall, of medium build, etc. Anyone with information should contact the police in …Bernard did not think the photo was a good likeness.Newspaper photos never looked like anything, ...
You haven’t got snails?’ ‘No, Mademoiselle.’ ‘Even tinned ones?’ ‘Certainly not! Everything’s freshly made here.’ ‘Fine, I’ll have an ice cream then.’ ‘For your starter?’ ‘An ice cream, I don’t care what flavour but with Chantilly cream – and lots of it!’ ‘Very good, Mademoiselle.’ There were ver...
Rose had everything she could possibly need in her bungalow, with glasses for every type of drink and a crocheted coaster to go under each one. Olives, peanuts, cocktail sausages and homemade crisps were piled high in cut-glass dishes. The hostess twirled around the table in a flimsy lilac chif...
He smelt like a dog too.‘Are there … are there many of them?’‘Three or four caravans. But this is just the beginning, there’ll soon be others. It’s the same every year, always around this time. Honestly, you’d be better off getting your husband to go with you.’‘He can’t get about. It’s his back …...
It was Jeanne pushing it, humming a tune that made little Luc laugh. Olivier was walking ahead carrying a rucksack. Inside there was enough baby food, milk and nappies to last several days. Tucked in his breast pocket, the ransom letter was burning against his chest like a poultice. His parents h...