Michel Bussi is a known name to English thriller readers. Two of his previous books have been translated from the French to English: After the Crash, and Black Water Lilies. Don’t Let Go, the latest, shows that Bussi is continuously refining his craft.
Don’t Let Go is also probably the sleekest and stripped down narratively. There are very few flashbacks or fancy narrative devices. The story proceeds linearly within a relatively short time frame and with a relatively traditional ending.
In contrast, the location of the story is probably the most exotic: Reunion Island, a French territorial island close to Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, populated by an eclectic mix of French natives, Creoles, Tamilians and Africans. The main industry here is tourism, and the star attraction is an active volcano that still erupts periodically.
In using Reunion as the site for the novel, Bussi turns an idyllic retreat into a place with simmering communal tensions and layers of history.
The story begins with Martial Bellion, his wife Liane and daughter Sopha, who are enjoying a break at a resort at Reunion Island. Liane goes up to her hotel room to change and is not back after an hour. Martial goes up the room to find her gone, and files a missing persons report.
The investigation into the kidnapping begins somewhat like an Agatha Christie book, with the police crew, led by Captain Aja Purvi, interviewing all the main characters. But is it really a kidnapping, or is it a murder? There are blood stains on the room walls. Martial was seen pushing a laundry trolley stuffed with his wife’s clothes towards the back of his car, but it could even have been a body.
Then the book changes character—Martial and Sopha check out of the hotel and disappear. Purvi throws a cordon around the small town, but Martial has some tricks up his sleeve. He appears to be evading arrest—but why run two days after the murder? And where can he expect to go to in this small place?
The story really takes off from this point on, and manages to maintain the pace required for a chase thriller.
The various locations of Reunion are explored as Martial moves across them.
In parallel more investigators are getting involved, official and unofficial. Among the most interesting of these is Imelda, the wife of one of the police officers. She’s the mother of five children, addicted to mystery books and sharp as a knife with a memory to match. Unfortunately, she isn’t used as much as she should be, instead being co-opted into creating a Bollywoodish moment of suspense in the very last scene of the book.
The ending, typical of Bussi, involves a long-ago injustice. Other than that short flashback, however, Don’t Let Go is a straightforward piece of narrative. The story relies overly on the geography of its setting for the escape setpieces. Yes, the volcano features in one of them.
Readers who expect a genre bender after reading Black Water Lilies are likely to be disappointed by this book. Others who prefer their thrillers with a clear resolution will prefer Don’t Let Go. But both types are likely to want to read his next release.