THE READERS' ROOM by Antoine Laurain

Translated by Emily Boyce, Jane Aitken and Polly Mackintosh

Having cut my preteen teeth on the entire Agatha Christie catalogue, I was, for a long time, smug about my literary sleuthing skills. Then I read Patricia Cornwell’s debut, Post Mortem. Suddenly, clues counted for jack. The killer was a hitherto unmentioned peripheral character. This uncertainty of a satisfying resolution (at least in the “I picked it” sense), sits at the heart of Antoine Laurain’s charming crime caper.

A manuscript turns up at a French publishing house. Everyone in the reading room loves it. An offer is made and accepted. The novel is a smash. It is shortlisted for France’s top literary prize. But there are two problems. Nobody has met the author. And the murders at the heart of the book are playing out in real life. As the prize announcement draws near, it’s up to publishing director Violaine Lepage to get to the bottom of it before the cops pin her as the culprit.

It’s all rather lovely and fun, with enough darkness to keep it interesting, and Laurain does a fine job of lampooning the publishing industry along the way. Did I pick the killer? Well, no. Could you? I’m really not sure.

The Readers’ Room by Antoine Laurain (Tr. Emily Boyce, Jane Aitken and Polly Mackintosh)
Gallic Books, 2020
176 pages