Pierre Lemaitre's Camille - Review

Camille by Pierre Lemaitre

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The final instalment in Pierre Lemaitre’s deliciously dark trilogy featuring Camille Verhœven.

Still haunted by the losses of his past, Camille finds himself drawn into the investigation of an armed robbery at a jeweller's, in which his new romantic partner, Anne Forestier, was brutally assaulted. It soon becomes apparent to Camille that the gunman is determined to leave no loose ends and that Anne, broken and scarred in hospital, is in danger.

Abandoning protocol and diving deeper and deeper into a situation from which he may not be able to extricate himself, Camille discovers he may be willing to go to any lengths to protect the woman he loves and avoid history repeating itself.

Set across three anxious days, a race against time ensues, Camille as determined to keep Anne safe as the gunman is to silence her.

Written in the same psychologically compelling style as 'Irène' and 'Alex' before it, highly descriptive and packed with action, 'Camille' immerses you once more in Camille's dark and tortured world; his ghosts circling around him, which may prove to be either his undoing or his redemption. Camille is a superb character - a dedicated and brilliant detective, while carrying his guilt and his emotion like a cross. Lemaitre has crafted a trilogy that perfectly balances the psychological depth, procedural detail, personal strife and action sequences, so finely written that the novels read like works of dark art.

Concluding with several twists and personal challenges for Camille, 'Camille' is a gripping and luxurious novel and a superb conclusion to the trilogy.

In addition to the trilogy of novels, Camille also features in the novella 'Rosy and John' (the English translation, thus far, is only available in ebook and audio), and I would greatly welcome a further return to his world in the future.



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