When police arrest eccentric loner Émile Gassiat for the murder of a wealthy woman in a shabby seaside apartment in Biarritz, Inspector Canonne is certain he has put the killer behind bars. Now he just needs to prove it. But he has not reckoned with the young man’s friends, who bring in lawyer-turned-investigator Larten to head for the desolate out-of-season south-west of France to dig deep into what really happened.
Larten’s hunt for the truth takes him back to the bustle of Paris as he seeks to demonstrate that the man in prison is innocent, despite all the evidence - and to uncover the true killer behind a series of bizarre murders.
Skin Deep is Antonia Lassa’s first novel to appear in English.It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Skin Deep today. Many thanks to Corylus Books for inviting me and for sending me a digital copy of the novel.
Skin Deep is a fairly short book and at under 120 pages is probably more accurately described as a novella rather than a novel. However, despite its relative brevity, Antonia Lassa manages to prove the old adage about small being beautiful and this is a really entertaining read with characters I would welcome seeing again.
The book opens by introducing Inspector Canonne of the Bayonne Criminal Investigation Team and he's not having a good day. Most of his woes seem to stem from the problems he is experiencing with his dental implants, although it quickly becomes apparent that his personal life is troubled too – a fact he partly attributes to his teeth issues. He isn't particularly easy to warm to in these early scenes but his indignant obsession with other people's teeth is amusing and I enjoyed how his character arc developed – and what it meant for my opinion of him – very much.
When he is summoned to the macabre murder of an elderly woman in a holiday apartment in Biarritz, his bad day becomes worse, especially because the victim belonged to a family of 'considerable importance.' The gruesome nature of the crime and the resulting conclusions drawn regarding the nature of the killer means an arrest is soon forthcoming. The unsettlingly composed suspect, a young man called Émile Gassiat insists he is innocent but without giving too much away, his personal life and eccentric demeanour means that while the police could be accused of unseemly haste, so convinced are they that they have apprehended the murderer, there are enough questions raised about his activities to ensure he is an intriguingly puzzling character.
However, as interesting as both Canonne and Gassiat are, it's the man called upon to prove the latter's innocence who is the real star of the show. A lawyer turned wine critic and investigator who operates out of a campervan, Albert Larten is one of the more unique private detectives I've come across in crime fiction and Skin Deep is all the richer for it. I don't want to spoil any disclosures about what makes him different, suffice to say that although this is ostensibly a book about a crime which needs solving, its real impact arguably lies in exploring and accepting people who live outside society's often rather narrow boundaries.
Larten is one of the few people who doesn't judge Gassiat's predilections and after he agrees to take on the case, his investigation, while perhaps a little reliant on his intuition, is really well plotted, with a dark and wholly satisfying conclusion. The touching ending to the story leaves me hopeful for more from both Larten and Canonne and I would be interested in seeing how their working relationship evolves in the future. The vivid descriptions are superb throughout; the unpleasant imagery evoked of the crimes committed, the excellent rendering of all the characters and the fine sense of place should all be commended. So too, should the translation by Jacky Collins which flows seamlessly throughout. Skin Deep is an engaging treat of a mystery and one I definitely recommend.
Skin Deep is published by Corylus Books, purchasing links can be found here.
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
Antonia Lassa is the pseudonym of Luisa Etxenike.
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