The Accident on the A35

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Let’s get a look,” she said, holding her hand out. I passed her the book. “Mmmm,” she murmured sarcastically, eyeing the cover. “Sounds… interesting.” Accident on the A35 is the 2nd in a series, but can definitely be read as a stand-alone. I haven’t read The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau yet and look forward to doing so.

Not a word of criticism in this review because I can find nothing to criticise. I loved every lean and beautifully placed word of this slim book, and was wholly absorbed from beginning to end. It deserves and gets my highest recommendation – superb! I’m afraid I struggled with The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet. It could well have to do with the translation, but as well as being unable to get close to the characters, I couldn’t raise any enthusiasm for the plot. The narrative is told from two perspectives, that of Detective Gorski and that of Raymond, the teenaged son of the deceased. Gorski is still in the town of St, Louis, a small city in France where "the inhabitants are most comfortable with failure. Success serves only to remind the citizenry of their own shortcomings and is thus enthusiastically resented". Gorski's wife has left him and he spends his time drinking heavily at Le Pot. While he misses his wife, he enjoys solitude and the ability to do as he wishes when he wishes. His Bloody Project was presented as a collection of documents unearthed by Burnet as he traced his family tree. This time he’s the translator of a French writer named Raymond Brunet, who after publishing The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau killed himself in 1992. Two decades later, on the death of his mother, lawyers acting for Raymond (mark the name) sent his publisher a parcel containing the manuscript of L’Accident sur l’A35.Over the past year I’ve become an aficionado of Grame Macrae Burnet after becoming entranced with his Booker-nominated novel, His Bloody Project. That was followed by reading The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau, and now I’ve dipped into the well for the third time with his thoroughly absorbing The Accident on A35. The story opens when a lawyer is killed in a road accident, the titular "accident on the A35". It appears a routine accident however Georges Gorski wonders where the lawyer was prior to the accident and this query opens a can of worms which sustains the rest of the book.

Thanks to #SkyhorsePublishing, NetGalley, and the terrific Graeme Macrae Burnet for the opportunity to read the ARC. The novel is character-based, exploring the emotional journeys of a rebellious and troubled teen who is just beginning to discover who he really is and what he really wants (with echoes of Albert Camus’ The Stranger)…a shy and lovely widow whose marriage has been a sham for many years…a seasoned detective who has been living parallel lives with his wife…and a woman in the Alsace town of Strasbourg who may possibly hold the key to what really happened. Friends described the HR manager from Wessex Internet as "vibrant" and "taken far too soon". Joanna Kerslake wrote: "Just devastated. She was just so lovely and I cherish every memory I have of her and the fun times we had hunting, playing skittles, dinners, drinks, nights out and balls. RIP beautiful friend." This is on the face of it a crime novel, but the quality of the writing, the depth of the characterisation, the creation of place and time and the intelligence of the game the author plays with the reader all raise it so that it sits easily into the literary fiction category, in my opinion at the highest level. The spokesperson added: “Officers from the Roads Policing Team would like to thank the public for their patience while the road was closed.”Colyton also set about making the car and lorry involved safe so neither vehicle posed a further danger to our crews.”

Gorski had no time for the idea of human nature. It was a meaningless idea people used to absolve themselves of responsibility for their own actions… The actions of those first on scene is often mentioned in relation to the emergency services, but more often than not, it is the public who are there at that initial stage. Devon and Cornwall Police are leading the response at the scene and confirmed the road will remain closed throughout the afternoon for investigations.

A35

I really enjoyed The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau (2014) and so was keen to read this 2017 follow up. The second part of the structure of the novel is that it is not narrated by the author Graeme Macrae Burnet. This is where the mystery and confusion of the novel starts. The book's Foreword reveals that this story comes from the two manuscripts of a writer called Raymond Brunet, sent following the author's instruction by his solicitor, to the publishers Editions Gaspard-Moreau in 2014 after the death of Marie Brunet, Raymond Brunet's mother. This manuscripts were meant for the attention of the editor George Pires, but he had previously died. Brunet had died in 1992 after committing suicide underneath a train, and the manuscripts were only sent by the solicitor after the death of Marie Brunet. Police investigating a crash near Axminster where an East Devon pensioner died are appealing for witnesses.

His family, who are being supported by a specially trained family liaison officer, have been informed and our thoughts are with them. The narration has the simple momentum of classic crime writing, heavy on lit cigarettes, light on subordinate clauses. Irresponsibly drawn to Lucette – he knows he’s a fool – Gorski digs for dirt on Bertrand, who at the time of his death was not (as his wife believed) returning from a traditional midweek supper with colleagues. That was Bertrand’s cover story – but for what? Why did he secretly withdraw a large wad of cash every Tuesday morning? And isn’t it odd that the damage to his Mercedes doesn’t seem consistent with hitting a tree? applause. serious applause. If my reading year continues to maintain this quality, I'll be a very happy reader person.Traffic was congested as motorists tried to find alternative routes while crash scene investigations took place, prompting police to thank the public for their patience. We were called shortly after 4.30am yesterday (Thursday 23 November) to reports of a collision between the Southfields roundabout and Shave Lane. A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson said: “Police investigating a fatal road traffic collision on the A35 near Axminster are appealing for any witnesses to come forward. Issues raised about obscured signage and white lines have since been rectified by Dorset Council, PS Gatfield added. A post-mortem examination was undertaken by Dr Adel Abuomar Muhaisen on August 15, 2022 at Holly Tree Lodge and Dr Adel Abuomar Muhaisen has reported the cause of death as one of polytrauma. Camilla Pike was an experienced rider that loved her motorcycle and rides with friends (Image: Dorset Live/Michael Taylor)