Both blur the line between villain and victim, concentrating on the effects on the central character’s mind as he is drawn into a plot that spirals out of his control, and both veer close to mild horror novel territory as he gradually loses his grip on reality. They are the authors who wrote Vertigo on which the Hitchcock film is based, and there are some similarities between the books. Boileau-Narcejac use his weaknesses and character flaws brilliantly to create a compelling picture of a man driven to the edge of insanity. But although this makes it pretty much impossible to empathise with him, it still leaves him as a fascinating subject for a character study.

He’s self-obsessed, rather cold emotionally, seeming unable to truly love either of the women in his life, and he’s something of a hypochondriac. Unsurprisingly in a man who is plotting to murder his wife, Ravinel is not a sympathetic character. But there’s also a mystery element that stops this being a simple character study – something strange is happening and, while Ravinel in his delusional state is willing to consider a supernatural element, the reader is left looking for a rational explanation. In essence, the book concentrates on Ravinel’s state of mind, showing how guilt and remorse soon knock him off his emotional balance, sending him on a spiral into delusion, depression and finally threatening even his sanity. This book comes with a request from the authors for readers to tell nothing about the plot so as not to spoil it for other readers, so I’ve restricted my little introduction to slightly less than is given in the publisher’s blurb. Their plot at first looks like it’s going to be successful, but then a strange thing happens, and gradually everything starts to go wrong… and as it does so, Fernand’s mind begins to unravel. But, in time, the pair decide this isn’t enough – that Mireille has to be got rid of. This makes it easy for him to spend time with his lover, Lucienne. Fernand Ravinel is a travelling salesman, often away from the home he shares with his wife, Mireille.

Boileau narcejac books