The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau

Manfred Baumann works in a bank and attends a restaurant in Saint-Louis regularly where a young woman by the name of Adele works. He is surprised one day when she isn’t there, and is informed by the proprietor that she hadn’t shown up for any of her shifts.

The following afternoon Inspector Gorski shows up at his door and began questioning him about the disappearance of Adele Bedeau.  Manfred denies having seen her since the last time in the restaurant, but in reality he had seen her get on a scooter with a young man after leaving the restaurant.  Why did he lie?

The following Monday at lunchtime, Gorski meets Manfred at the restaurant and again asks him if he had seen anything.  Once again, Manfred lies.  Later the young man on the scooter speaks to Gorski, and reveals that he had seen Manfred when he had met Adele.  Gorski brings Manfred in for questioning.  He maintains his lies.

What kind of trouble are his lies going to get Manfred into?  Author Raymond Brunet’s psychological thriller shines the light on a man who has a troubled past and leads an unextraordinary life.  Gorski solves a murder, but will he be able to solve the disappearance of Adele?  An interesting read with some surprising revelations by the translator Graeme Macrae Burnet.