Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

**The Stranger in the Seine: A Novel**
*by Guillaume Musso*

In the mist-shrouded streets of Paris, Guillaume Musso weaves a tale as enigmatic as it is enthralling in "The Stranger in the Seine." This novel plunges readers into the icy waters of the Seine alongside a young woman whose emergence from the river's depths is as mysterious as her identity. With no memory and only tattoos as clues, she is a puzzle that beckons to be solved, drawing us into a labyrinth of intrigue and suspense.

Musso masterfully crafts a narrative that is as much about the journey of self-discovery as it is a thrilling chase to unveil a truth that is seemingly impossible. The presumed-dead pianist Milena Bergman becomes the heart of this enigma, challenging the very notions of life and death. Her fiancé Raphael, driven by desperation, and Roxane, a cop with her own demons, become unlikely allies on a quest that delves into the murky waters of past secrets and present dangers.

The narrative is a rich tapestry of human emotions, with each thread revealing the complexities of the characters' lives. Musso's Paris is not just a backdrop but a living, breathing entity that mirrors the turmoil within the protagonists. The city's haunting beauty serves as the perfect stage for a story that oscillates between the ethereal and the all-too-real.

"The Stranger in the Seine" is a testament to Musso's ability to blend the thriller and mystery genres with a literary finesse that captivates the reader's imagination. While the novel does venture into the realms of Greek mythology and the esoteric, it is this very boldness that sets it apart. The story may at times seem convoluted, but it is in the complexity where the beauty lies—a beauty that is both profound and profoundly human.

Musso's prose is a dance of light and shadow, a delicate balance that manages to hold the reader in a tight grip until the very end. The resolution, satisfying yet open to interpretation, invites contemplation long after the last page is turned. "The Stranger in the Seine" is a haunting melody that resonates with the mysteries of the soul and the intricacies of fate.

Guillaume Musso's "The Stranger in the Seine" offers more than just a mystery to be solved. It is a journey through the darkest alleys of the human psyche, a reflection on the fragility of life, and a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit. For those who dare to dive into its depths, it promises an unforgettable voyage.

A mysterious woman shows up in the Seine and is taken to a psych hospital. When dna results come back it turns out this woman is supposed to already be dead. A police officer named Roxane gets on the case and starts uncovering a mystery involving cults, fake identities, and betrayal.
This story gripped me in the beginning. I was all in and consumed by the mystery and drama. Unfortunately the ending fell a bit flat for me and sort of felt like a cop out to make the mysteries that were strung along work out in the end. But up until then I really enjoyed the story.

For lovers of drama, secrets, passion and vibrant settings and characters - this books sounds perfect!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

This is a fascinating murder mystery that centers around Greek mythology and specifically that of Dionysus and sacrifice. When a dead body is pulled from the Seine, Roxanne who works for the Bureau of Unconventional Affairs (which usually investigates the paranormal) is confused as the woman is identified as Milena, a musician who apparently died a year ago in a plane crash; DNA evidence even confirms it. The plot revolves around a father and son; Marc has been in a coma and will probably not live much longer, and son Raphael is a writer currently in a psych ward. It's a brilliantly convoluted plot that involves satyrs, tattoos, sacrifices, and Raphael's sister Vera who died as a child. Hard to believe these are all connected but it's an awesome story that left me breathless!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

An amazing and gripping thriller. Think the borne identity meets da vinci code. Can't wait for more from this author.

This book started off really good and I was hooked on the story, it was flowing along nicely, then a second narrator was introduced and a lot of Greek methodology that went way over my head and the story got lost. I did finish it though unless you like learning about Dionysus (Greek methodology guy) you may want to give it a pass. Paris police detective Roxanne has been demoted to a police post on the edge of Paris, she's supposed to just bide her time until the powers that be decide to bring her back into the fold. In the meantime, the fellow that was in the post previously is in the hospital after falling on the metal stairs and seriously injuring himself. She's a curious person though and snooping around finds that he had been working on a case where a woman had been rescued from the Seine River and taken first to a hospital then to a psych ward, where she escaped. That woman was Milena Bergman a concert pianist who died in a plane crash a few years back. So off Roxanne goes, I say chasing ghosts, but she does a commendable job of finding and tracking down clues about this person, even finding the boyfriend. Up until that point things were going good, then it starts to get convoluted, I think there was too much thrown at the reader, or maybe it was just me. An alright book. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Little Brown and Co for the ARC.

This was an interesting book. I enjoyed the setting and the storyline itself is really interesting. There seemed to be backstory missing. Roxanne is on probation at her job due to a reason never stated and there were loose ends at the end that never wrapped up fully. I can tell the author is very talented and I will check out other books by him. Special Thank You to Guillaume Musso, Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book!

I had not read other books by this author, but I am definitely hooked, thanks to this book! I was intrigued by the story and was curious about how the ending would answer all the questions posed throughout the plot. The setting of Paris was so gothic inspired and lent such a flair to the novel! I was invested in the characters and found myself wanting to follow their progressions and development throughout the story. Great thrilling read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Stranger in the Seine.

The premise sounded so interesting and I've read previous books by the author so I had higher than usual expectations.

The story got off to a good start, Roxane, the chief investigator has been reassigned to a new unit due to a professional infraction.

Her first case involves a woman rescued from the Seine who is later identified as a famous pianist who died in an airplane crash a few years ago.

Intriguing, right?

Then, it went downhill fast.

First, there is little character development for Roxane. She's angry, disillusioned, fed up with her life and the world, and plays by her own rules.

A stereotypical detective who is also on 'probation' for something never explained.

Then, the plot suddenly becomes bogged down in Greek mythology, and becomes sillier and more difficult to suspend disbelief.

Raphael is just a silly, dumb man. Why would he pretend he has a girlfriend who is also famous, who just later happens to die in a plane crash so that's another problem resolved. Or is it?

The narrative depends so heavily on deux ex machina, and ridiculous coincidences.

Then, the POVs began to switch heavily between Roxane, Raphael, his invalid dad with more info dumping.

I don't think it's ever explained why the stranger in the Seine pretends to be Milena.

The 'mystery' is just hard to suspend disbelief for and there are many loose threads hanging at the end.

Roxane has just been appointed to replace Mark at the BUA. On her first day, she is pulled on a weird case. A naked woman was fished out of the Seine, and then she disappears before Roxane can even see her... and when she analyses her DNA, she realizes the woman died in a plane crash over a year ago...
This is a mystery/thriller, and it started great. However, part the 25% mark, I lost interest. I would've liked to know more about Roxane and what brought her to BUA, maybe it would've made her a bit more likable. Everything felt very shallow and one dimension, and a little bit all over the place, and it feels a bit unfinished. And the entire Greek mythology approach did not help, it sometimes felt like info dumping. I adored most of Musso's books. The premise of this one was really good, but it fell very flat (and the ending was not only too opened, it blew apart everything he hot us thinking along the read, and not in a jaw-dropping twist kind of way). It was not for me.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

From early on just about everything about this book felt half baked. We never learn the circumstances that bring the main narrator, Roxane, to the post she’s received as some sort of punishment. In fact we learn very little about her aside from her opinion on the gilets jaunes and the fact that she doesn’t seem to care at all what she has the authority to do or not do. In fact, throughout the story Roxane pretty much just does whatever she wants. She’s a prime example of why people hate the police.
Roxane starts investigating a case that she has nothing to do with out of boredom and drags everyone around her into it. The clues seem to pop up a little too easily and lead us down a path involving Greek mythology and the stage. Even in the end when everything comes together it seems forced and feel like a lot of plot details were left open.
Overall it was fine but not really memorable or impressive.

Something about this book just felt so random and incomplete. I couldn't connect with the writing style either. I finished it because I wanted to see how it would end, but I can't say I'm satisfied with the experience as a whole. Still, not totally bad, just lacking.

Who is the young woman plucked from the Seine, and why did she disappear?

Captain Roxane Montchrestien is an investigator of considerable talent and expertise who, in the era of yellow vest protests and anti-police rhetoric, no longer feels the connection to her job that she once did. Due to her (unnamed) recent actions which have reflected badly on her team, she is being reassigned….out of the public eye, with hopes that she can pull herself together and refocus. A small, almost defunct department formed back in the 80’s to look into crimes that were “unusual” in nature….think hints of the supernatural, UFO’s, X-Files-type things….and has of late had only one member, Marc Batailley, will be her new assignment. Batailley was once a high-profile figure, having identified and caught a serial killer that had terrorized Marseilles. Family tragedies and health issues soon derailed his career, and he ultimately found himself in this unit, where detectives go to be forgotten. Just as he was called in to assist on a case, he was found gravely injured in his office, the result of a possible heart attack which led to a fall down a treacherous flight of stairs. He is now comatose in the hospital, and so Roxane finds herself placed in his stead. The case about which Batailley was contacted is that of a beautiful young woman pulled from the Seine, naked and without any knowledge of who she is. When she was in the process of being transferred from one location to another, she slipped away and has not been found. Roxane pulls in some favors, and has some hair samples left behind by the mysterious woman tested. When the results come back, she is identified as a well-known pianist named Milene Bergman….who died in a plane crash over a year ago. If that isn’t odd enough, it seems that she was engaged to Raphaël Batailley, the novelist son of the police detective whose place Roxane has just taken. Things only get stranger from there; with references to the cult of Dionysus, a man dressed as a satyr, and pleas for help from the young woman who may, or may not, be Milene, Roxane (who is much more Scully than Mulder) will find herself tested as never before to find out just who the unknown woman in the Seine is and what exactly is behind her disappearance.
This mystery, translated from the original French, grabbed my attention from the beginning. It is not a story that slowly builds in an orderly fashion to a full conclusion. Instead, just as the character of Roxane Montchretien is thrust into a case that has already begun with little to no foundation, so is the reader. I very much enjoyed the character of Roxane, and was intrigued at a character who so clearly used to love her job but is dismayed by what is happening in her country and its effects on her profession. She is whip-smart, accustomed to making her way in a male-dominated force that has not yet had its full share of #MeToo moments, but is definitely not in a good place. I like a quirky mystery….the Department Q novels of Jussi Adler-Olsen, Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May series, and Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books all spring to mind….and this novel certainly qualifies in many ways. Alongside Roxane, the reader is given pieces of the puzzle and has to determine who is telling the truth, who is holding back information, and just what rules one is willing to bend or even break to get at the truth when bureaucracy seems to intrude at every turn. The ending of the book seems to suggest that we have not seen the last of Roxane, and in my opinion that is a very good thing. I have read other reviews of this novel, and not everyone seems to have enjoyed it as much as I did. I have not read any of M Musso’s other novels, so I had no preconceived notions of what I was about to read….perhaps that was a factor in others’ opinions. From my perspective, this was a fast-paced novel that i enjoyed for both its main character and its plot. Many thanks to NetGalley and to Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy of The Stranger in the Seine, and I look forward to seeing what happens next for Roxane.

A detective reassigned to the department of Unusual Affairs investigates when a woman is pulled from the Seine with no recollection of who she is. Things get even weirder when DNA says she is a pianist who died over a year ago. Roxane the detective is determined to find out what is going on.

I liked the idea here, but this one just throws you in the deep end with little context. I think more background could've been given. Maybe the writing style just wasn't for me, but others might like it.

When police detective Roxane Montchrestien arrives at her new assignment, she learns about a mysterious naked woman who was rescued from the Seine. Having no other assignment, she decides to investigate—despite not being assigned to the case. And thus begins a wild tale of impossible identity, weird cultists, and a chase to solve a serial killer case and prevent more deaths.

I was intrigued by police detective Roxane Montchrestien and was sorry not to get a more detailed feel for her character. She is burned out and probably on her way out of the police force, but a colleague has wangled her an appointment to the Bureau of Unconventional Affairs. Ooh, I thought when I read that, is this the Parisian equivalent of the Peculiar Crimes Unit of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May series? Am I about to be introduced to a cast of eccentric detectives with specialties in arcane knowledge? No, the novel doesn’t go in that direction. Roxane is a loner, who works by hitting up colleagues for favors and dragoons a civilian university student as an unpaid and off-the-books researcher and driver.

While Musso’s character descriptions can be a little light, his scene setting is terrific. One of my initial favorite passages in the book is the description of Roxane’s new office, in the nearly-hidden belfry of a building that was once part of the famed Bon Marché department store. It’s a magical-sounding place, and Musso’s description made it seem real and inviting. Then there are multiple scenes criss-crossing the city and at several Paris locations, an ultra-modern glass house set in a nearly-hidden garden court, a wild road and helicopter chase all the way to the Italian border, and a sea-tossed Breton island. Musso also doesn’t stint on caustic commentary about the state of French politics. These descriptions are big plusses for me.

This is my third Musso thriller, and it’s the wildest one yet. Musso’s books are always pretty outlandish and require a serious suspension of disbelief, but this one is way out there. The fact that a naked woman fished out of the Seine turns out to be DNA-identified as a woman who has been dead for some time turns out to be the sanest part of this crazy plot involving bizarre ritualistic attacks and murders. If ridiculous plots put you off, don’t bother with this one. But I just chuckled as the plot became more and more nutty, going along with the wild ride.

A crazy but entertaining plot with excellent scene-setting outweigh—for me, at least—some weakness in character development and an English translation that is a little stilted uses a lot of outdated expressions.

This was just okay for me. The mystery and uneasy atmosphere wasn't really there for me and I feel like the details and plot lacked quite a bit.

Have you ever felt like an author has taken you and dumped you in the deep end of the pool? Or opened the door and shoved you into a room full of people and you don’t know why you’re there or don’t know any of the other guests? That’s how I felt for the first few chapters of this novel. There was no lead-in, no setting the scene, no introduction of characters … I couldn’t believe that I’d waited so long to read something by this author only to be so disappointed.

I don’t understand why it had to be this way.

The premise was fantastic and the author has a great reputation.

Unfortunately, when I put the pieces of the puzzle together I didn’t get the satisfaction I was expecting. I closed the book frustrated and angry.

The addition of Greek mythology was downright creepy.

The translation was…umm… interesting: “The guy’s as thick as a whale omelette.”

A young girl is pulled from Paris’ Seine River at Pont Neuf and was found to be naked, disoriented and suffering from amnesia. When her DNA is tested in an effort to understand who she is, it’s discovered that she was one of the 178 victims of a Buenos Aires to Paris flight that sank off the coast of Madeira in November 2019. So how is it possible that she was pulled out alive from a river in Paris? You’d be hooked, too, right?!

Please don’t take my frustration as an indication to pass on this one. Do your homework. Check other reviews.

I hope this book finds an appreciating reader.

I was gifted this copy by Little, Brown, and Company, Back Bay Books, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I thought this sounded fascinating by the synopsis, but perhaps I got my expectations up too high. This fell flat for me.

While "The Stranger in the Seine" is an engaging thriller with a unique premise, there are certain elements that prevent it from reaching its full potential. The pacing occasionally falters, with moments of sluggishness that hinder the overall momentum of the story. Additionally, some readers may find certain plot developments and twists to be overly convoluted or far-fetched, affecting the overall believability of the narrative.