The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau

This is a psychological study-cum-mystery with an unusual conceit: the author is supposedly a deceased French writer whose manuscript has been found and translated by Graham MacRae Burnet. Burnet is the Scots author of the Booker shortlisted His Bloody Project. And that book has its own unusual frame. While you're reading, however, it seems like a standard, well-written mid-century mystery, ostensibly set closer to our own time but featuring that "timeless" quality that so many novels have, with few references to contemporary technology or events.

On to the plot and characters. The story revolves around the occurrence of its title: Adele, a waitress in a cafe in a small town in Alsace, fails to show up for work one day and no one knows show more where she is. Her disappearance is investigated by the local detective, Georges Gorski, who quickly focuses his attention on one of the cafe regulars, Manfred Baumann, when the latter lies to him about what he saw in the days before Adele disappeared. Gorski doesn't know what Baumann is hiding, but the reader does because the majority of the novel is written from Baumann's POV.

Baumann may not be hiding anything important about Adele (we won't know that for a long time and I didn't guess correctly), but he is petrified of appearing unusual to the people around him. He is a man of strict habit and routine, and he worries constantly about how he appears to others. He is both dull and odd, which is a tough combination for an author to pull off, but Burnet does it. As the story unfolds we discover that Baumann had a difficult and traumatic adolescence, but we never know whether his personality is a result of that trauma or part of his innate psychological makeup.

The mystery unfolds as Gorski turns up clues and Baumann feels under his microscope, with old secrets coming to light (one in particular that connects the two men), and Baumann becomes more and more unsettled. We do find out what happened to Adele, but it almost feels inconsequential compared to other revelations. This is primarily a psychological study with the mystery providing the storyline, and as such its both more and less than what's on the tin. It's very atmospheric and brings to mind the mysteries of Georges Simenon, whom Burnet is on record as admiring. I enjoyed it and will pick up the next novel in the series. show less

Adele, a waitress in the Restaurant de la Cloche, disappears. Manfred, a regular at the restaurant lies to the police about the last time he saw her. The novel focusses mostly on Manfred, a friendless bank manager who lives a life of routine, obsessed with what others must be thinking of him. Other chapters are from the perspective of the police chief Gorski, an unassuming man with a bit of an inferiority complex himself, who is haunted by a murder case he failed to solve 20 years ago.

The writing was excellent, although unremittingly downbeat, and the picture of the town of Saint-Louis well-drawn. Manfred's character was excellent and believable, even at his most self-conscious and paranoid. Adele's fate was surely inevitable. I did not show more feel that the conceit that the text was in fact written by the French-sounding Raymond Brunet and only translated by Burnet really added anything.

Highly recommended. show less

A smart, stylish story dissecting the life of one Manfred Baumann a strangely introverted man who works at the bank in Saint-Louis and dines most lunchtimes and evenings at The Restaurant De La Cloche. He regards, in an almost salacious way, a young waitress called Adele Bedeau and when she disappears Manfred becomes the chief suspect and is pursued relentlessly by Inspector Gorski of the Saint-Louis police.

This delicious novel is really the study of human behaviour, in all its quirks and oddities, and you the reader have a front row seat to observe and judge. Manfred is a wonderful character, socially inept, reserved, withdrawn, indeed some of his working and socializing colleagues are of the opinion that his preference may be towards show more a male rather than a female partner. He is fastidious almost a perfectionist in his approach to daily tasks... "He dressed, combed his hair and put on his watch. Back in the kitchen he laid out two croissants in a basket, butter and jam, a plate and a knife. He poured coffee into a large bowl and sat down at the table.".....

Inspector Gorski has a troubled marriage. His wife Celine, who manages and runs a fashion boutique in town, views Gorski as socially inferior but still insists that he attends social gatherings in order to "establish the Gorskis as part of the Good Society of the town." The Inspector therefore preferred to spend his day policing, and the pursuit of Manfred Baumann proves a welcome distraction.

I loved the unhurried telling of this story the unravelling of the everyday orderliness of Manfred and by doing so expose a dark secret. Can a wise and wily Gorski utilize this secret to expose the truth of Adele's disappearance and by so doing will this set in process a chain of events that may end in disaster? With a very neat and unexpected ending I was delighted, amused and thoroughly entertained by this literary work form a great writer. show less

Reading this book after "His Bloody Project" lets me see how "The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau" was a sort of dry run for the later book. The trick Burnet has perfected is a sort of variation on the limited third person omniscient narrative structure. We live inside the head of the protagonist just enough to see how flawed he is, but not enough to let us see the bigger picture.

At some point I became very fatigued walking around in Manfred Baumann's shoes, the protagonist. Baumann is constantly evaluating what others think of him, always worried about the impression he will convey. There is literally nothing to admire about Baumann, nor to identify with. Couple this antipathy with Brunet's deliberately artless style of writing and you show more have very little to focus on other than the interiority of of a social misfit. But not only Bauman .. Inspector Gorski's self-doubts and his awareness of his effect on others also shows his unease with what other must think. Too much thinking, too much dwelling on thinking. It wears you out.

At some point during the last quarter I started skim reading - always a bad sign - and discovered that I really was not missing anything, plot wise. By the end it's all guessing, self-doubt, and repetitive expressions of insecurity. The ending, when it comes, is nothing much.

I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 3 because the book is cleverly done. But it is mostly a technical achievement, an affair of the head, but not the heart. show less

This book is more of a character study than it is a crime novel, and the titular "crime" is overshadowed by a much older, and quite monstrous, tragedy. The main "character" of the story is its small town, whose stultifying features are reflected in the accused and the investigator, both creatures of routine, to their detriment.

Set in the small, sleepy French town of Saint-Louis near the Swiss border, this atmospheric novel follows the attempt of Inspector Georges Gorski to investigate Adele Bedeau’s sudden and unexplained disappearance. As the case drags on, with no obvious resolution or culprit, Gorski is once again reminded of his first murder investigation from twenty years before.
On revisiting the previous events, he realises that the two may be linked through Manfred Baumann. Baumann, a loner, who committed the original crime but was never charged, becomes increasingly disturbed at Gorski’s questions.
This is so much more than a murder mystery as Burnet’s writing deftly sketches the close atmosphere of the town, together with Baumann’s nervousness show more and the dilemma of Gorski trying to resolve the situation, which builds to a tense and surprising finale. show less

Cleverly written and dark. The true power of [b:The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau|22610350|The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau|Graeme Macrae Burnet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474987149s/22610350.jpg|42100499] as with Burnet's novel [b:His Bloody Project|25694617|His Bloody Project|Graeme Macrae Burnet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433870239s/25694617.jpg|45524554] lies Not in what is said....but what is unsaid

Having loved ManBooker Prize Finalist 2016 [b:His Bloody Project|25694617|His Bloody Project|Graeme Macrae Burnet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433870239s/25694617.jpg|45524554][bc:His Bloody Project|25694617|His Bloody Project|Graeme Macrae show more Burnet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433870239s/25694617.jpg|45524554] I was delighted when a goodreads friend recommended this novel to me as a book really worth reading.

[b:The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau|22610350|The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau|Graeme Macrae Burnet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474987149s/22610350.jpg|42100499] is a literary mystery novel that is at heart an engaging psychological portrayal of an outsider pushed to the limit by his own feverish imagination.

This is a slow burner and in place an intense and disturbing read. I loved the suspense created in the novel, its an intense and sometimes disturbing read but a book that captured my imagination from page one and I loved the writing. Graeme Macrae Burnet is a very talented writer and I really look forward to his next book. show less