Written by Lindsey Williams
Ten years ago, Kate Channing spent a life-changing weeks’ vacation at a French farmhouse with five friends from Oxford. But then, what was supposed to be a perfect summer getaway went horribly awry. The girl next door, Severine, became an ever-present part of their lives. Relationships were made, twisted, and broken. Lies were told. Trusts were betrayed. A murder occurred. In Lexie Elliott’s The French Girl, tangled relationships and unclear memories unfold into a wickedly twisting mystery that is impossible to put down.
A decade following that pivotal week at the farmhouse, in present day, Kate is a successful lawyer who has just started her own firm. She remains close with a few of her fellow Oxford students from all those years ago, especially Lara, whom has been her dearest friend throughout the years, and Tom, who has just recently moved back to London following a split with his partner. Of course, for every friendship that remained close, there are those that drifted and those that were destroyed. Seb, Kate’s ex-lover from her Oxford days, is moving back to town as well. Their relationship ended on terrible terms, and Kate has not seen Seb since their breakup at the end of that tragic week.
And then there’s Caro, a fellow lawyer, whom Kate has never been particularly fond of, but has somehow managed to stay in her distant circle of acquaintances for all these years. These relationships are all complicated even further when news breaks that French police have discovered Severine’s body, at the bottom of the farmhouse well where they had all stayed during that fateful week one long decade ago. The discovery of Severine’s body leads to the case not only being reopened, but also to the sudden re-investigation of these of college friends.
Kate, who had previously been sure that none of her friends had committed this heinous crime, now finds herself uncertain of everything she once thought she knew, and unsure who can be trusted. When a French investigator appears in the lives of this group of current and former friends, questions and accusations arise that Kate had never previously thought possible.
This is a slow-burning thriller, a quality which I found quite pleasing. The French Girl walks the line between a traditional thriller and more literary fiction. By setting the present action a decade after the crime occurred, Elliott allows for a breathtaking examination of the relationships and psychological connections that occur when a group of young students live ten years with the secrets and uncertainty that the murder of Severine brought into their lives.
I love books that study complicated relationships, and The French Girl is full to the brim with complex and intricate friendships and more-than-friendships. If you enjoy books that take a long, hard look at the repercussions of lies, hidden secrets, and betrayals, this is one you will want to pick up.
If you’re also looking to enjoy a good old classic “whodunit” mystery, The French Girl is the perfect read for you. As the investigation delves deeper into the complicated lives of this group of friends, and more evidence and clues come to light, Kate is left to question everything she has always thought she knew. The reader is left to figure out who among this group of friends was capable of committing murder, at the same time as Kate herself struggles to figure it out.
Overall, The French Girl was a thrilling and satisfying mystery. In the end, all questions are answered in a most satisfying of conclusions. Though there were a few twists I saw coming, I was truly kept guessing as to who the killer was until nearly the end of this gripping novel.
The French Girl by Lexie Elliott has now been released! Will you be picking up a copy? Let us know in the comments below!
Goodreads Synopsis
They were six university students from Oxford–friends and sometimes more than friends–spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway–until they met Severine, the girl next door.
For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group’s loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can’t forgive, and there are some people you can’t forget, like Severine, who was never seen again.
Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine’s body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she’s worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free.
