Patriarch Louis Pelletier, a successful businessman with a dark past, has remained with his wife in Beirut, but his family have settled on French soil. Jean, the menacing eldest brother, hides a terrible secret and is trapped in a stifling marriage, though his life is enriched by his love for his three-year-old daughter. François, an up-and-coming reporter, is caught up in a volatile love affair; and Hélène, their younger sister, strives to make her own way as a journalist, but as a woman in a man’s world, she faces extraordinary challenges as she fights to expose a vast industrial scandal.

Filled with twists and turns, dark and compelling, yet ripe with wit and surprising cliffhangers, The Silence and the Rage is the story of one remarkable family against the backdrop of France during one of its most thrilling and turbulent periods.

‘As wonderful as The Wide World. A family and social saga to savour in a sitting’ Le Parisien
‘Lemaitre’s hard-boiled style of writing is perfectly matched by his translator, Frank Wynne’ Financial Times

A dark and thrilling ride about the most unlikely of killers, perfect for Tarantino fans, by the award-winning and bestselling author, PIERRE LEMAITRE

‘A really excellent suspense novelist’ Stephen King
‘A total success‘ Le Canard Enchaîné
‘Dark, very funny and completely unexpected’ Madame Figaro
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With Mathilde, there is never a stray bullet, her work is clean and neat. Tonight was an exception. A little whim. Obviously, she could have taken the shot from a distance, done less damage; obviously she could have made the hit with a single bullet. What can I say? I don’t know what came over me. This is what she will say if anyone asks. And anyway, who cares? All that matters is that the guy is dead, right?

1985. Paris. Sixty-three-year-old Mathilde Perrin is on another mission. A widow, mother and decorated hero of the Resistance, she is also a ruthless and skilled contract killer, and the most unlikely suspect. But tonight, something has changed. Mathilde is agitated, forgetful and impulsive – so much so that even Ludo, her loyal and long-suffering Dalmatian, has noticed a dangerous shift in her mood.

For Mathilde, retirement is not an option. And no superior, nor police detective nor meddling neighbour will stand in her way. But as Mathilde’s mind unravels and the bodies pile up, how long will it take before the killer herself becomes the target?

The first epic novel in THE GLORIOUS YEARS series from the two times winner of the prestigious Prix-Goncourt

‘You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with. And it is exactly those great 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of’ Sunday Times

The Pelletiers are a prominent French family living in Beirut, dominated by Louis, who has built a hugely successful business manufacturing artisanal soaps. Louis has three sons, but none seems to have the aptitude for commerce he desires.

There’s Jean, the eldest, a feckless man who is both lazy and weak. When his ambitious wife suggests a move to France, he jumps at the chance for escape – for Jean has a secret that no-one must ever uncover.

Etienne is the youngest son, who travels to Saigon looking for love, and there uncovers financial corruption and violence linked to the very highest officials – evidence that presents a real threat to his own life.

François, the middle Pelletier brother, leaves for Paris and becomes a journalist. When he reports a shocking and brutal murder, he realises he’s uncovered the work of a dangerous serial killer, one who may be very close to home.

Absorbing, colourful and rich with no-holds-barred detail, THE WIDE WORLD is a terrific novel of greed, blackmail, and shocking crime.

‘Literature with conviction; a furious talent’ L’Obs

April, 1940. Louise Belmont runs naked down the boulevard du Montparnasse. To understand the traumatic scene she has just witnessed, she will have to plunge headlong into the madness of the Phoney War, as France, seized by the panic of a new European conflict, descends into chaos.

Louise navigates this period of enormous upheaval in parallel with her fellow citizens – including Maginot Line conscripts Raoul and Gabriel, bistro-owner Monsieur Jules and confidence trickster Désiré Migault. The looming threat of German occupation uncovers long-buried secrets and makes for strange bedfellows, as one extraordinary twist of fate follows another.

With characteristic wit and verve, Pierre Lemaitre chronicles the fall of a nation crushed by circumstance. The final novel in his award-winning trilogy is an incandescent tale that veers from the tragic to the burlesque.

Translated from the French by Frank Wynne

The first volume of THE GLORIOUS YEARS series, translated by Frank Wynne

Beirut, 1948. The Pelletier family returns…

‘Over the years, the annual Pelletier family pilgrimage down the avenue des Français
had known many variations, but never before had it taken on the air of a funeral cortège…’

The Pelletiers are a hugely prominent French family living in Beirut. Louis Pelletier has spent years building his soap business, dominating the manufacturing market. Now, he wants to pass on the leadership, but choosing which son to takeover from him is proving challenging.

Jean, the eldest, has no such acumen for managing the enterprise and seems a hopeless and weak option. His wife, though, has superior ambitions, and eager to flee the familial bonds for other reasons, Jean agrees to an escape to France.

Etienne Pelletier, younger and a gentle soul, is trained in accounts, and leaves home for Saigon to find love. There, he uncovers a well-established scheme to channel smuggled goods and cash to the Viet Minh. It is dangerous evidence that presents a real threat not only to officials in high places, but to his own life.

François, the middle Pelletier brother, persuades his father to let him travel to Paris, where he becomes a journalist. His career flies when he reports on the brutal murder of an actress, and realises a serial killer is on the loose, one who may be closer than anyone realises.

‘You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with. And it is exactly those great 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of’ Sunday Times

‘Pierre Lemaitre skilfully captivates and stuns the reader’ Le Figaro

Jean Garnier lives on the fringes – a lonely nobody who has lost everything dear to him. His girlfriend was killed in an unexplained accident, his mother has just been sent to prison – he has even lost his job after the sudden death of his boss.

In one last, desperate cry for help, Jean sets up seven lethal bombs, hidden all over Paris and timed so that one will explode every 24 hours.

After the first detonation, Jean gives himself up to the police. He has one simple demand: his mother must be released, or the daily explosions will continue.

Camille Verhoeven is faced with a race against time to uncover the secrets of this troubled young man and avert a massive human disaster.

Lemaitre’s Camille Verhoeven Trilogy – Alex, Irene and Camille – has been a multiple winner of the CWA International Dagger.

Translated from the French by Frank Wynne