- Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Prime Crime (TRD); Reprint edition (Jan 24 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0425179052
- ISBN-13: 978-0425179055
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,594,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Penzler Pick, May 2000: This gripping mystery by one of France's top mystery writers recently won the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, the equivalent of the Edgar Allan Poe Award. Elise Andrioli has been left blind, mute, and quadriplegic after a terrorist bomb explosion in Northern Ireland that killed her fiancé. Back in the small suburb outside Paris where she lives, Elise leads a solitary life except for the contact that she has with her caretakers. However, a series of grisly local murders has shaken the residents. Young boys have been disappearing only to be discovered a day later, dead and horribly mutilated.
One morning, while waiting in her wheelchair outside a supermarket, Elise is approached by a small girl named Virginie, who confides that she was present when "Death from the Woods" murdered Michael, a boy reported missing several days earlier. Later that afternoon, Michael's death is confirmed on the local news. Elise is intrigued but has no idea who Virginie is or how to find her. But soon Virginie reappears and offers Elise more information about the murders. The investigating police officer suspects that Virginie is giving information to Elise that she is reluctant to give to him, and tries to set up a communication system between himself and Elise to find out what she knows. But someone else also suspects that Elise knows something--and after an accident that almost costs her her life, she must try to convey her knowledge to those around her. But how?
This first-person mystery is not only chilling, it is--incredibly--amusing. Elise is an engaging heroine with a remarkable sense of humor about her physical and mental state. There are plenty of twists and turns in this crisply translated story, and readers, far from feeling sorry for Elise, will find themselves cheering on this gutsy woman as she uses her remarkable intellect to keep herself out of danger and bring the murderer to justice. --Otto Penzler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In centering her thriller around a main character who is not only a quadriplegic but blind and mute as well, French author Aubert sets herself a difficult task, but she acquits herself brilliantly. While on vacation in Ireland, 36-year-old Elise Andrioli is horribly injured in Belfast by a car bomb that kills her boyfriend and five others. Back at home in the suburbs of Paris, the French cinema owner is confined to a wheelchair, but she can still hear and think. Elise's astute thoughts, together with the crisp dialogue of the people she encounters and her keen and often humorous commentary on their one-sided conversations with her, fuel this dazzling whodunit. Befriended by Virginie, an odd little girl who whispers terrifying observations about someone she's dubbed "Death from the Woods," Elise learns the grisly details of a series of child murders, including that of Virginie's older half-brother, Renaud. When the precocious child admits that she knows who the culprit is, Elise is plunged into a dizzying universe. Virginie, her parents and the investigator in pursuit of the killer all confide in her. As Elise makes physical progress from her single method of communicating-lifting an index finder to signal "yes"-to regaining some dexterity in her left hand and arm, the plot becomes increasingly complicated. Elise suspects first one and then another of the adults in Virginie's world of committing the heinous crimes, and finally she becomes a target herself. Throughout the intensely suspenseful story, chock-full of unexpected twists and turns, Aubert expertly captures the myriad frustrations of someone confined by severe physical limitations. Never stooping to melodrama or pity, she uses Elise's marvelous sense of humor and intellect to create an unforgettable character. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's the word I'm looking for...?,
By Temple Swann (Arkansas, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death from the Woods (Hardcover)
Brilliance! That's it! Brilliance is the only to describe France thriller writer Brigitte Aubert's English debut, "Death From the Woods" about blind, quadripalegic, mute Elise Andrioli. You're thinking, how and the hell could such a disabled woman blink, much less solve a slew of child murders? With her all-encompassing hope of being able to move again, and her sardonic wit. Elise lives with Yvette, her nursemaid and general caregiver. One day Yvette decides to take Elise with her to the market. She parks Elise under an oak tree, and goes on about her shopping. A little girl Elise learns is named Virginie comes up to Elise and asks if perhaps Elise would like hear a story? Elise can't move anything but an index finger, so she raises it to signal, yes, she would like to hear a story. It sure beats sitting there, doing her impersonation of a sack of potatoes in a wheelchair (her words, not mine). So Virginie begins telling Elise the story of Death From the Woods. Death comes from the Woods and strangles pretty little boys. Elise is terrified, thinking maybe Virginie is just a bit on nutty side, when she hears that another little boy has been killed. Elise is then thrown into an investigation, wheelchair and all, meeting a phony cop, Yssart, and another cop Gassinet. If you aren't fluent in French, a few of the names like Boissy and Migoin might throw you a little, but don't let that stop you. This book is too good to pass up.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unique protagonist in a classic-feeling mystery story,
By "cathst" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death from the Woods (Hardcover)
One afternoon, Elise Andrioli is sitting in the park when a young girl approaches and whispers that she's witnessed the murder of a neighbourhood boy. Cryptically refusing to call the murderer anything other than "Death from the woods," little Virginie draws Elise into a web of terror and frustration as this serial killer gets ready to strike again. The unique thing about this story is that our protagonist Elise is mute, blind, and quadriplegic, so she doesn't know how to convey this information to anyone else, and is left to suffer with her knowledge in silence as events progress around her at an alarming speed. A lot of the events in this book are a little unrealistic and will require a good dose of suspension of disbelief. In addition, you'll need the ability to look beyond some somewhat one-dimensional supporting characters. If you don't possess either of these two things, you might not enjoy this book. Otherwise, however, Aubert does a great job of creating an interesting character in Elise, and letting us live this story through her experiences. You can feel the frustration and tension that Elise herself must feel, being unable to communicate what she knows. This whole story had a very "classic" mystery feel to it, along the lines of Christie (except better), as we weave in and out of the story, never knowing who's guilty or innocent from one moment to the next. I would read another by this author.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gem of a Whodunnit,
By CapricornGirl "Jam" (South Africa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death From The Woods A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
An extraordinary thriller centring around the heroine, Elise Andrioli, who has been left blind, mute and quadriplegic as a result of an IRA bomb in Northern Ireland.Back home in France, Elise leads a sedentary and solitary life and when a number of murders of boys take place, she is befriended by a little girl, Virginie, who confides that she has witnessed the murders. This sets the scene for an unusual and intriguing whodunnit. Elise, a very different heroine, is fabulously witty and sarcastic in the manner she relates to the reader her thoughts and opinions on the characters she comes into contact with. Its a creepy, spine-chilling, roller-coaster of a book and one which I enjoyed immensely. This book is highly recommended.
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