The Case of Lisandra P.: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Buenos Aires, 1987. When the beautiful Lisandra is found dead at the foot of a six-story building, her husband, a psychoanalyst, is immediately arrested for her murder. Convinced of Vittorio's innocence, one of his patients, Eva Maria, is drawn into the investigation. As Eva Maria combs through secret recordings of Vittorio's most recent therapy sessions in search of the killer, she is forced to confront her most painful memories, alongside some of the darkest moments in Argentinian history. A daring and compulsively readable literary thriller.

Reviews

A cerebral mystery . . . [and] a moving look at how evil, having seized political power, can cripple nations and crush souls.
The Washington Post

For fans of Gone Girl . . . an Argentine love triangle featuring a psychoanalyst arrested for his wifes death and a patient trying to clear her therapists name.
O, The Oprah Magazine

"[Eva Maria] makes for an original, if unlikely, detective. But the real hero of this story may well be the victim of Puigs crime: his wife Lisandra. . . .At times, Lisandras existential angst sounds like it might have been pulled directly out of one of those turbid 1920s tango lyrics for which Buenos Aires is famous. . . .The prose takes on a mysterious exactitude reminiscent of Franz Kafka."
Los Angeles Review of Books

A cunningly plotted tale that is by turns cerebral, suspensefuland ultimately shocking.
Publishers Weekly

Full of truly unexpected twists and poignant turns, Grmillon's subtly political drama reverberates long after the killer is unmasked.
Kirkus Reviews

"[The Case of Lisandra P.]might be considered a murder mystery, but the story is much more than that. . . .This tense novel of both the personal and the political touches on the ugly truth of a brutal regime while also examining jealousy and betrayal, with disturbing twists and turns. . . . Grmillons breathless prose captures the frantic state of Eva Marias mind."
Library Journal

Hlne Grmillon has proved herself more than ever a master of the art of the page-turner.
Paris Match (France)

"The new Patricia Highsmith . . . [This] is only Hlne Grmillons second novel, and already it establishes her among the exceptionally gifted writers of this season.
est Magazine (France)

"A successful novel. . . The cohabitation of executioners and victims, betrayal, jealousy, the inability to understand things that are right in front of us: throughout the thread of the narrative, Hlne Grmillon interweaves these various motifs with fluidity."
Le Monde (France)

The strength of Hlne Grmillons novel is not only its premise, but also its psychological analysis.
Le Nouvel Observateur (France)

"In direct, sometimes crude, language, this diabolical novelist guides us through the complex maze of the psyche."
ELLE (France)

"An addictive storyline that leaves us stunned."
Pleine Vie (France)

Author Bio

Hel ne Gremillon was born in France in 1977. After obtaining degrees in literature and history, she worked as a journalist at the French newspaper Le Figaro before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Paris with her partner, singer and songwriter Julien Clerc, and their child. Alison Anderson is an American writer and translator based in Switzerland. Her translations include J. M. G. Le Clezio's Onitsha, Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and Hel ne Gremillon's first novel, The Confidant.