After the Crash

by Michel Bussi

Overview

"Wonderfully ingenious and altogether satisfying."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

Just after midnight on December 23, 1980, a night flight bound for Paris plummets toward the Swiss Alps, crashing into a snowy mountainside. Within seconds flames engulf the plane, which is filled with holiday travelers. Of the 169 passengers, all but one perish.

The sole survivor is a three-month-old girl—thrown from the airliner before fire consumes the cabin. But two infants were on board. Is "the Miracle Child of Mont Terri" Lyse-Rose or Emilie? The families of both girls step forward to claim the child. Dogged by bad luck, the Vitrals live a simple life, selling snacks from a van on the beaches of northern France. In contrast, the de Carvilles, who amassed a fortune in the oil business, are powerful-and dangerous.

Eighteen years later, a private detective tasked with solving the mystery of the girl known as "Lylie" is on the verge of giving up. As he contemplates taking his own life, Crédule Grand-Duc suddenly discovers a secret hidden in plain view. Will he live to tell it?

Meanwhile, Lylie, now a beautiful university student, entrusts a secret notebook into the hands of Marc, the brooding young man who loves her, and then vanishes. After Marc reads the notebook's contents, he embarks on a frantic search for Lylie.

But he is not the only one looking for her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316309677
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Michel Bussi is the author of Black Water Lilies and After the Crash and is one of France's most celebrated crime authors. The winner of more than fifteen major literary awards, he is a professor of geography at the University of Rouen and a political commentator.

What People are Saying About This

Megan Abbott

After the Crash is a jolt to the senses and a jolt to the heart--both rollicking and labyrinthine, both wildly propulsive and yet rich with grand drama, and with a cast of characters--particularly its sumptuously powerful women--you won't forget. --Megan Abbott, author of The Fever and the forthcoming You Will Know Me

Editorial Reviews

11/16/2015
French crime author Bussi makes his English-language debut with an insightful thriller. A three-month-old girl, dubbed the Dragonfly by the media, is the sole survivor of a 1980 airline crash in the Jura Mountains at the Franco-Swiss border. The Dragonfly was one of two babies the same age on the flight from Istanbul to Paris, but during the crash any bits of identification were lost. Was the baby Lyse-Rose de Carville, granddaughter of a wealthy family and now heir to an industrial fortune? Or was the little survivor Emilie Vitral, whose grandparents operate a van that sells snack food in Dieppe? Both sets of parents died in the crash, and the primitive DNA testing of the time can’t provide an answer. Meanwhile, sleazy Crédule Grand-Duc, a former mercenary turned private detective, spends the next 18 years trying to uncover the child’s identity. This fascinating tale of intrigue and murder delves into complicated family bonds as it builds to a surprising and shocking conclusion. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Riveting! Bussi spins psychological suspense at its finest with this consuming tale of one child, two families, and the dark secrets that define us all. Clear your schedule; this book is worth it!"—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Crash & Burn and Find Her

"After the Crash is a jolt to the senses and a jolt to the heart—both rollicking and labyrinthine, both wildly propulsive and yet rich with grand drama, and with a cast of characters—particularly its sumptuously powerful women—you won't forget."—Megan Abbott, author of The Fever and the forthcoming You Will Know Me


"Wonderfully ingenious and altogether satisfying."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"After the Crash opens with a wrenching scene that will serve as the mystery's terrifically compelling central conceit....sit back and go along for the ride....Bussi's tucked a lot of enjoyable - and enjoyably surprising - pieces into his puzzle."—Boston Globe


"This fascinating tale of intrigue and murder delves into complicated family bonds as it builds to a surprising and shocking conclusion."—Publishers Weekly


"Fast-paced and action-packed, this thriller is adrenaline pumping. Bussi offers a smart, complex mystery with plenty of plausible twists and surprises ... An engrossing story that's almost impossible to put down."—Shelf Awareness


"A novel so extraordinary that it reminded me of reading Stieg Larsson for the very first time...I doubt I'll read a more brilliant crime novel this year."—Sunday Times (UK)


"You find yourself quite frantic to know the truth, before this cleverly constructed, smart mystery concludes by delivering a delicious sting in the tail."—Sunday Express (UK)


"A richly satisfying story...a hugely enjoyable ride."—Irish Independent

From the Publisher

08/01/2015
When he's not working as a geography professor at the University of Rouen, Bussi is one of France's best-known crime writers. But he really hit the jackpot with this book, which was on the best sellers list in France for two years, has been sold to more than 25 countries, and won multiple awards; it also attracted a lot of attention at BEA in May. The premise: a plane crashes in the Swiss Alps, with the sole survivor a three-month-old girl thrown from the wreckage before it bursts into flames. But which of the two infants on board is she? The families—one rich, powerful, and threatening—immediately start fighting. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2015-10-20
A plane crash and the identity of its lone survivor form the delicious premise for Bussi's novel. It's 1980, and a plane en route from Istanbul to Paris crashes into the side of a mountain. Everyone aboard is killed, but searchers find one survivor, an infant girl who's been improbably thrown from the plane. The 3-month-old baby is immediately hailed as a miracle child and would be reunited with her grandparents except for one small problem: there were two baby girls on the flight, and neither set of grandparents has ever seen their granddaughters. Up springs a battle to claim the little girl, with a rich family, the de Carvilles, on one side and a poor family, the Vitrals, on the other. But a man who has investigated the case for 18 years is at the center of the drama. Crédule Grand Duc, a private investigator hired by the de Carvilles to prove the child is their Lyse-Rose and not Emilie Vitral, has finally determined the child's identity. Complicated by the fact that DNA was not a commonplace identifying tool until the later 1980s, the action moves back and forth over the years as the two families tussle over the child, to the present day of the book, which is 1998. Bussi has an intriguing premise, but many things about his narrative will frustrate readers, including DNA test results that no one bothers to read, and when people do, they keep the results secret. Lyse-Rose's older sister, Malvina, is a heavy-handed villain; Emilie's brother, Marc, is also the girl's lover, adding the possibility of incest to the mix; and Grand Duc's recounting of the events, in a notebook he left behind at his death, is a meandering mess that's like a long-winded uncle stretching a one-minute story into a three-hour monologue. Lots of initial promise, but the plot proves improbable and the execution melodramatic.

Kirkus Reviews

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