Don't Turn Out the Lights

Description

"You did nothing." Christine Steinmeyer knows the suicide note she found in her mailbox on Christmas Eve has nothing to do with her. But the man calling in to her radio show seems convinced otherwise. "You let her die..." That's only the beginning. Bit by bit, her life is turned upside down. But who among her friends and family hates her enough to want to destroy her? And why? Commandant Martin Servaz is on leave when he is sent a key card to a hotel room - the room where an artist committed suicide a year earlier. He soon uncovers evidence of a truly terrifying crime. Could someone really be cruelly, consciously hounding women to death? Both he and Christine will find out...but it may not be in time.

Bernard Minier grew up in south-west France and spent a happy childhood in the foothills of the Pyrenees before going to university in Toulouse, the town where Servaz is a policeman. He currently lives near Paris. He has received several awards for his short stories. All three novels in the Servaz series, THE FROZEN DEAD, A SONG FOR DROWNED SOULS and DON'T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, have been bestsellers in France, and his writing has been translated into German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Russian and Hungarian as well as English. He has twice won the prestigious Prix Polar at the Cognac Crime Festival.

A publishing sensation in France, where it's rushed up the bestseller lists, this is Minier's first crime novel and this translation justifies its vast French reputation...With a villain possessing the intelligence of Thomas Harris's immortal Hannibal Lecter, this is great story-telling, with a creeping sense of dread that would not disgrace Stephen King at his best. - Daily Mail These gothic horrors, reminiscent of an old back-and-white film - insane killers and sinister nursing staff - made Bernard Minier's The Frozen Dead a huge seller in France, and it's a thrilling read. - Sunday Times A terrific thriller that will keep you up long past your bedtime. The French Pyrenees make a wonderfully atmospheric setting for this complex story of past crimes, madness and revenge. Servaz and Ziegler are a fascinating cop duo, and I hope to see more of them in the future. Excellent. - Amazon This densely written and very atmospheric thriller is Minier's first novel. It has been a bestseller in France and, in this well-translated English edition, deserves to be one here - Literary Review An enjoyable and fast-paced thriller - Sunday Business Post