The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau
Manfred Baumann is a loner. Socially awkward and ill at ease, he spends his evenings surreptitiously observing Adèle Bedeau, the sullen but alluring waitress at his local bistro. But one day, she vanishes into thin air. When Detective Georges Gorski begins investigating her disappearance, Manfred’s repressed world is shaken to its core and he is forced to confront the dark secrets of his past.
The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau effortlessly conjures up an otherworldly atmosphere that simultaneously intrigues and unsettles. A compelling psychological portrayal of a peculiar outsider pushed to the limit by his own feverish imagination, it is by turns haunting, strange and mesmeric. In this new tenth anniversary edition of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s acclaimed debut, the metafictional “translator’s note” is positioned as a foreword, in line with the author’s original idea for this magnificent trilogy of literary mysteries.
Graeme Macrae Burnet
Born in Kilmarnock, Graeme Macrae Burnet is among the UK’s leading contemporary novelists, having achieved both critical acclaim and best-selling status around the world. He lives in Glasgow, where he studied film and English literature. After teaching English overseas and working as a researcher in the television industry, he won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2013 and now writes full-time. He is best known for his dazzling Booker-shortlisted second novel, His Bloody Project, and his fourth novel, Case Study, which was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. Graeme is also the author of a trilogy of French-set detective novels: The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau (2014), The Accident on the A35 (2017), and A Case of Matricide (2024).
Author portrait © Euan Anderson
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