Rachel Reviews: No Sanctuary by Graeme Chambers

I really enjoyed Graeme Chambers' murder mystery book from start to finish. We follow Max Dempsey who has moved to Provence, France with his teenage son, Luke for two reasons: the first because he loves the place and it holds warm memories for him; the second because he is escaping another life, one where he lost his wife and Luke's mother in a tragic accident and he is hoping that a new setting and a completely different lifestyle will help both him and Luke to heal.

However, when a gunshot and a scream in the night shatters the peace, Max finds himself wondering if coming to Provence was the best decision. The aim was find a life that was lighter and instead, he has taken Luke from his remaining family to an unknown place where death has followed and presented itself to them once again, this time in the murder of a neighbour.

Max finds himself becoming embroiled in the investigation through things that he discovers as well as connections he has at the justice department and we, as readers, follow him as he tries to find out who could have killed Madame Borrell?

Telling the story in the third person allows us to eavesdrop on other characters than Max and so, we shadow the detectives and judge who are investigating, namely Jacques, Arielle, Dupre and Claire and learn things about their lives in the same way that we do Max's. I liked this as it made all of the characters feel well-rounded and I could visualise them clearly from Chambers' descriptions and what he tells us about their hopes and fears and ambitions.

Chambers also presents through Max and Luke a strong father-son relationship reforming after the death of Emma, Max's wife and Luke's mother. Chambers is sensitive to the grief that surrounds them and also the tentative way in which they are having to move forward into a new dynamic thrust upon them by a tragic loss.

But it is the solving of the murder that drives the book's action and it rolls along at a fair old pace as clues are uncovered and motives emerge. There is nothing too heavy here: it's just good storytelling, well-plotted and conceived, delivered with fluidity and an instinctive awareness of where tension is needed, or a little romance, or reflection, or humour, combining them all to make a good read.

Rachel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC: