The Disappearance Of Adele Bedeau by Graeme McCrae Burnet

 

In a small town in France, a waitress in the local bistro has gone missing.  The police, led by Inspector Gorski, investigate.  They talk to everyone but one man seems suspicious.  Manfred Baumann is the local banker and a creature of habit.  He takes his lunch and his dinner in the bistro although he rarely talks to anyone.  People looking back think he seemed interested in Adele.  He has lived in the same apartment for years and after dinner he goes to his apartment and does whatever.  Once a week he visits a brothel. 

Several people saw Adele leaving town on the back of a motorbike.  Manfred had walked from the bistro that night with Adele and had seen that also.  But when the police interviewed the bistro customers, he lied about seeing her for no real reason except that he constantly analyzed every conversation and its affect on the other person and believed if he told the truth he would be arrested.  

Inspector Gorski is determined to solve the disappearance.  His first case, years ago, had gone unsolved and he is adamant that this one will be solved.  He is suspicious of Baumann because he can tell he is lying and because he knows how Adele left town.  Why would Baumann lie?  He doesn't know but can sense that Baumann has secrets he is hiding.

Graeme McCrae Burnet is a Scottish writer who writes in the historical true crime genre.  His work has been both longlisted and shortlisted in various years for the Booker Prize and has won various awards around the world.  The reader will come to know Manfred as the book is mostly written from his point of view.  Manfred has dark secrets going back decades that still influence his everyday life and his belief that people are constantly talking about him.  This book is recommended for readers of historical literary fiction.