I really enjoyed reading His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet after discovering it through the Man Booker Prize shortlist last year. His 2014 debut novel ‘The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau’ which was also published by Contraband tells the story of Manfred Baumann, a loner who lives in the nondescript French town of Saint-Louis in Alsace and frequently dines at a bistro where waitress Adèle Bedeau works. When Adèle suddenly disappears one evening after finishing her shift, Manfred quickly comes under suspicion. However, after giving a false statement to Inspector Georges Gorski in which he fails to admit that he was the last person to see her alive, his life begins to spiral out of control.
As well as being a relatively rare example of genre fiction on the Man Booker Prize shortlist, ‘His Bloody Project’ was notable for being presented as a “true crime” story in the form of a series of documents “discovered” by Burnet. He pulls a similar literary trick with his debut, posing it as a long-lost novel published by a cult French author (coincidentally named “Raymond Brunet”) in the 1970s which he claims to have “translated”. Overall, I think ‘His Bloody Project’ has added narrative complexity in terms of form but the device of uncertain authorship is used just as effectively in ‘The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau’.
I also found ‘The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau’ to be the more emotionally unsettling of the two books. The portrayal of Manfred is the most effective character study of social awkwardness and repression I have come across in quite some time and I felt an escalating sense of dread as his obsession with routine and increasing paranoia gradually consumes him. Inspector Gorski is an equally intriguing character and his flawed personality, family background and past failures are explored thoroughly.
The essence of life in an isolated provincial French backwater – particularly the feeling of time having stopped on a Sunday – is captured brilliantly. Although supposedly set in the 1980s, the atmosphere is relatively timeless in the face of unchanging routine. Consequently, the pace is rather languid and characterisation definitely takes precedence over plot to the point where the circumstances of Adèle’s disappearance become almost peripheral. However, I expect the majority of readers, like me, will turn to this book after reading ‘His Bloody Project’ and will know what to expect from Burnet’s deceptively complex plot devices and therefore won’t be disappointed.
‘The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau’ is a psychologically astute novel with an evocative setting and well-drawn characters. I look forward to reading its sequel ‘The Accident on the A35’ which will be published in October and sees Inspector Gorski investigating a new case in Saint-Louis.
A Little Blog of Books 
Great review! I am yet to read His Bloody Project, but I am adding Adele Bedeau to my list as well – it sounds fascinating.
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Thanks – they are both brilliant!
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Sounds interesting! Like most people, though, I think I’ll read His Bloody Project first. If I like it, I will certainly turn to this one.
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Yes, I think both are excellent – hope you enjoy His Bloody Project!
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I really enjoyed My Bloody Project and the plot device he used even though I thought it ran out of steam a little at the end. When I finished it I googled his debut novel and had wondered what it would be like – now that I know and especially now I know it’ll be the follow up in his next book will definitely look to read Adele Bedeau.
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I’m really pleased there is a sequel too – hope you enjoy it!
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I loved His Bloody Project and had no idea the author had a previous book! Thanks for bringing it and its sequel to my attention. I’ll have to see if I can get hold of it.
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Yes, I loved both of them! Definitely worth checking this one out if you can – I’m sure the publishers will reprint it before the sequel comes out later this year.
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I really love the sound of this one! I haven’t read His Bloody Project yet, but I may very well read this one first. Great review 🙂
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Thanks – I think both are excellent so I hope you enjoy them!
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Great review, I think this would have been a good novel for the Wellcome Prize list, but understand why it was eclipsed by better titles. But this was a very psychological and unsettling novel and in many ways more remarkable than My Bloody Project, I thought. Both worth reading though.
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Yes, definitely unsettling – I can’t wait for the sequel!
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Super review. Made me remember the Charles Trénet’s les enfants s’ennuient le dimanche.
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Thanks – I haven’t heard of that one but will look into it.
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I’m not ordinarily drawn to mysteries/crime but will seek them out every so often if I need a change of pace – this one looks good.
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It’s very character-driven which appealed to me a lot – hope you enjoy it if you ever pick it up!
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Just to let you know there appears to be a glitch in your next post, it will not load
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Yes, I know, I had to repost it, not sure what happened… it should work now from the homepage…
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great review! this is not my go to genre but now I want to read this one.
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Thanks – hope you enjoy it!
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Looks fantastic! I need a good new read, so I will take this one next! I am currently finishing The Butterflies by Kim Waldron. It’s so good, great crime and murder and all the right pieces. Great read!!!
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Great, hope you enjoy it and thanks for the recommendation!
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Pingback: The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet | A Little Blog of Books
Hi – I bought this on the recommendation of this page and I thought it was delightful. I was compelled to read it in one whole sitting – the last time that happened was 2003! It was so different from His Bloody Project, but the strengths are the same – the detail with which setting and character are portrayed, and some wonderful similarities pointed out between the two main characters. Gorski’s just become my favourite detective – at the end I wanted to go and tell him he’d done a great job and everything was going to be all right, haven’t felt like responding to a fictional person as a real character for years either.
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Fantastic, glad you enjoyed it as much as I did! I think you’ll like The Accident on the A35 which features Gorski on a new case 🙂
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