SOLVED. YA fiction: teenage boy whose parents are murdered during a robbery; counselling, Freudian psychology, dream analysis. Merde/murder [s]

[Rachel]

A teen fiction book which I think was published late 80s-mid 90s. I think it had the word Red or Blood in the title.

The main character was a teenage boy whose parents had been murdered during a robbery at their home (except the twist reveals it wasn't really a robbery). There is something about jewellery being stashed in the attic, and the boy thinks he overhears someone saying the word Murder on the night of the crime, but it was actually a French person saying "merde".

Some chapters are about the boy's sessions with a grief counsellor and there are extracts from the counsellor's notebook. Freudian psychology is used to analyse the boy's dreams, including one dream where his mother and father are dressed as a king and queen. The counsellor begins to suspect the boy is blocking out the real truth about what happened to his parents, and gradually the truth emerges. I think there are also police reports included in the story.

Google has not helped me find this book as I keep getting results for true crime cases - this was definitely fiction.

[Rachel]

Found! Managed to track this down on the catalogue of the library where I first borrowed it. The book is Blood by Alan Durant. Can't find a link for it, too many books with Blood in the title!