I had thought that with Lucy Foley's "The Paris Apartment" I had read the best mystery ever. But no, I was wrong. This one is even better.
I love books that I know are inspired by other writers or films, and this is one of them. It is very, very "MidsomerMurders". Thatched cottages, spooky woods, ghostly figures, pagan rites. I visualized John Nettles striding through every page.
But this is better. Foley uses these memes, twists them around, and uses them again. It sets your head spinning, in a most readable way.
The story is told from a multitude of aspects, one character after another. Usually this is tiresome, but Foley is such a talented writer that instead the reader gets to know the characters intimately, along with all their hangups.
The suspense builds up, along with the questions. The questions are answered in surprising ways, but still the suspense remains.
Even at the climax, though the mysteries are solved, there is a feeling that these are real people, who will carry the consequences of their actions for the rest of their lives.
Read it. And, like me, look for the next Lucy Foley tour de force.