(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

On the night of 22 December 1980, a plane crashes on the Franco-Swiss border and is engulfed in flames. 168 out of 169 passengers are killed instantly. The miraculous sole survivor is a three-month-old baby girl. Two families, one rich, the other poor, step forward to claim her, sparking an investigation that will last for almost two decades. Is she Lyse-Rose or Emilie?
Eighteen years later, having failed to discover the truth, private detective Credule Grand-Duc plans to take his own life, but not before placing an account of his investigation in the girl's hands. But, as he sits at his desk about to pull the trigger, he uncovers a secret that changes everything - then is killed before he can breathe a word of it to anyone...

*3.5 stars*

This book struck me as two, almost separate stories. And, usually, that's not a bad thing. First was the story of the actual plane crash and the survival of a 3-month-old baby. The mystery of the baby girl was actually very well thought out. I appreciated it from solely a mystery perspective. The other half was the battle between the two sets of grandparents - this I was a little less excited about. It did become somewhat melodramatic and it felt like clues were shoehorned into the plot to satisfy the ending the author was building to. It didn't feel natural at times.

While the story descended into a maelstrom of red herrings, melodrama and clichés, it was still written compellingly well (I don't even know if 'compellingly' is a word but I am sticking to it!) and made me want to keep reading, even if for only finding out the answers...

Overall, a really decent story that could have stayed away from the melodrama and wildly unbelievable twists. Would have been, for me, a far greater novel!


Paul
ARH