When London barrister Charles Holborne travels to rural France in 1970, he is hoping for a quiet escape. Instead, he finds a village still ruled by old loyalties, buried secrets, and unresolved guilt.
A woman has disappeared. Accusations resurface. And the past,shaped by fear and silence during the Nazi occupation, begins to intrude on the present. As Holborne is drawn deeper into a case the village believes it has already judged, he discovers that justice here is fragile – and truth can be more dangerous than lies.
Moving between wartime France and the uneasy peace decades later, The French Vendetta explores how communities rewrite history to survive, and what happens when moral compromise is mistaken for justice.
A gripping historical crime novel about memory, prejudice, and the long shadow of war.
What did I think?
As a huge fan of the Charles Holborne legal thrillers series, I couldn't wait to read book 11, The French Vendetta, and I was not disappointed. It's another outstanding instalment in this fantastic series and it also works particularly well as a standalone with it being set in France.
Charles and Sally are newly married and they are taking a well-deserved break in France with their young daughter Leia. Things don't go quite to plan and when Sally is taken ill Charles contacts his father's old friend who offers his cottage in the countryside to recuperate. Well this doesn't sound much like a legal thriller, I hear you say, but it wouldn't be a Charles Holborne book without a court case and this very unusual one is well worth waiting for.
The whole village is brought to life through Simon Michael's exquisite descriptive writing and I felt as if I was there with the Holbornes. Tensions are high in post-war France as friends and neighbours became enemies during the war. It is difficult to read about anti-Semitism but it's important to be reminded of such horrific prejudice and Simon Michael writes about it with sensitivity, honesty and respect.
I always love catching up with Charles and the balance between his personal and professional life is perfectly weighted as always. Charles and Sally are characters that I I have grown to love over the years and I feel very protective of them, especially when they are put in harm's way and Charles doesn't half get himself into some scrapes!
Bursting with intrigue and suspense, The French Vendetta is an unforgettable, thought-provoking and powerful novel that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. To quote myself from book one, The Brief, The French Vendetta is "absolutely unputdownable", as is the whole series.
I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the online book review tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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