A review by crazygoangirl
Waiting For Monsieur Bellivier by Britta Röstlund, Alice Menzies

2.0

Another dud after The Fourteenth Letter 🙁 Clearly my reading mojo has gone seriously awry 😜 I liked the premise of the story however far-fetched. It seems incredible to me that a women would accept an assignment the way Ms. Helena does in the book - especially given the times we live in (the book is set in contemporary times as well), but perhaps that's because I've never known her level of depression or is it desperation? That's the problem with this story for me - plenty of hints but not much clarity. I'm fine with a certain amount of of ambiguity but after a while it starts getting on my nerves! Monsieur Mancebo was my favourite of the two characters - his background was clearer and in consequence, I could understand his characters motivation for behaving the way he did, better. Another major issue I had was that although the story is set in a Paris, there was a marked 'lack of atmosphere'. Except in bits and pieces where the author describes the city reeling under the heat and swarms of tourists, the story could have been set in an anonymous city and been none the worse for it! Sad.

Disappointing. I really must choose the next one carefully! Maybe a re-read of a Christie is what I need 😊