Don't Let Go

Don't Let Go
Michel Bussi
translated by Sam Taylor

It has been a couple months since the last book review on Favourite Things. Time to remedy that.

Michel Bussi is a Frenchman, a professor of geopolitics and a well-known best-selling author in France. He lives and works in Normandy where many of his mystery novels are set. Apparently, his other novels, which I haven't read, this one being the first for me, are absolutely terrific if you enjoy the genre. In fact, several reviewers said that, for them, Don't Let Go, by comparison, was a real disappointment.

I'm here to tell you that not only was I in no way disappointed, but I could hardly tear myself away when other duties called. 

Unlike his other novels, Don't Let Go is set in the tiny French Département of Réunion, a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius. 

 At only 970 square miles and with a population of under a million, Réunion is a popular holiday destination for French people, but a new place to discover for moi. I'd heard of it, but really knew nothing about it and last week I couldn't have told you even its location.

The island appears to be tropical, although volcanic mountains inhabit the interior. Exotic palms trees sway in the wind, sandy beaches extend along the western coast and a host of birds and animals not found anywhere else call the island home. Réunion also appears to be a melting pot of peoples, cultures, religions and languages. Although the inhabitants refer to each other by names which identify the group they belong to, they seem to get along fairly peacefully without the degree of racism you might expect. With the location as it is, there are Africans, Malagasy (from Madagascar), Europeans, Indians of Muslim extraction, Indians of Hindu extraction and so on, with mixing producing families with beautiful children.

One of the joys of the novel, then, is discovering something about the geography and inhabitants of Réunion. The other joy is the compelling story which at first glance seems to start with a family of tourists - husband, wife and 4-year old girl. The wife suddenly disappears in broad daylight, leaving behind a bloody hotel room and the husband soon comes under suspicion. He is, at first, cooperative with police, but then he takes off with his little daughter and from then on, there is a chase, and other victims along the way. All is not what it seems at first with this French tourist and there is a slow revealing of the truth during the frantic attempt to save the little girl's life that involves all of the cultures that inhabit Réunion. 

I loved the novel and for sure will be looking for more Michel Bussi books.