A young woman wakes in a hospital room. What happened to her and why is a mystery. Is she victim or murderer? The young woman has been badly injured in a fire and has amnesia. But what happened to her? Is she Mi, Micky or Michele, or Do, Dominique? As she struggles to rebuild her identity, she starts to recall the crime that was committed and the house on the French Riviera. She remembers the rich heiress and the faithful friend - but which is she?

For fans of Patricia Highsmith, Harriet Tyce, Jorn Lier Horst, Fred Vargas and Jean-Patrick Manchette.

For fans of Patricia Highsmith, Harriet Tyce, Jorn Lier Horst, Fred Vargas and Jean-Patrick Manchette.

For fans of Patricia Highsmith, Harriet Tyce, Jorn Lier Horst, Fred Vargas and Jean-Patrick Manchette.

A runaway bestseller in France when it was first published ten years ago, this irresistible novel set during the aftermath of World War I is reissued. "A classic mystery . . . Only the best historical fiction can make the journey into a distant time and return with a believable sense of how things really were. This novel does it."--Paul Watkins, "Washington Post Book World."

During the First World War five French soldiers, accused of a cowardly attempt to evade duty, are bundled into no-man's land and certain death. Five bodies are later recovered, the families are notified that the men died in the line of duty and the whole, distasteful incident appears closed. After the war the fianc-e of one of the men receives a letter which hints at what might have happened. Mathilde Donnay determines to discover the fate of her beloved amid the carnage of battle. A Very Long Engagement turns into an unusual and engrossing thriller as she discovers an increasing number of people trying to put her off the scent.

Japrisot's achievement is to have written a novel that is both a suspenseful thriller and one which transforms a single small incident into the epitome of all wartime atrocities. The dénouement, when it finally happens, is moving and horribly convincing.