A really decent mystery whodunit that keeps you interested and wanting to read on. Enjoyable 4 star read

An excellent plot twister and whodunnit that keeps you guessing until the end. A great read for the winter evenings.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the others I have read by this author. Found it very slow at times, but stuck with it.

Unfortunately I have not been able to finish this book and so a 3 star felt the most fair rating to give.

This is an enjoyable and unusual mystery / thriller, with quite a few slow reveals and some very unexpected plot twists. The plot hinges around Clotilde, on holiday in Corsica with her husband and daughter. Her mother, father and brother had died in a car accident (or was it?) 27 years ago. Clotilde, being the only survivor, had taken many years to build up the courage to visit the island, and her grandparents who still lived there. She is horrified to receive a letter which appears to be in her mother's handwriting. Did her mother survive, was it from a ghost or is someone playing a cruel trick on her? The book alternates between current (2016) events and extracts from Clotilde's 1989 diary, leading up to the day of the accident.

The book is beautifully written (and translated from French) but I felt that it was a bit too long and that the diary extracts were self-indulgent and pompous, yet also quite revealing and insightful. Many of the characters were 'not very nice' - but perhaps the mark of a great writer is that their characters can provoke a reaction in the reader, whether good or bad.

The plot is very well constructed and although complex, it was not too convoluted to follow.

This was a killer read (see what I did there??). This was the first time I've read anything by Mr Bussi, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a gripping read, and I enjoyed it until the end. Recommended.

It is summer 1989 and fifteen-year-old Clotilde is on holiday with her parents in Corsica. On a twisty mountain road, their car comes off at a curve and plunges into a ravine. Only Clotilde survives.

This book wasn't for me unfortunately. It started off well, but seemed to lose it's way. Maybe it was the translation that didn't 'translate' too well. Not sure. Shame.

This is the story of a 15 year old girl, who is the sole survivor of a car crash which killed her parents and elder brother. All is not what it seems and she returns to the scene of the crash when she is married with a 15yr old daughter. There are lots of layers to this very long book, which is quite slow moving.

I delayed reading this book for quite a while but once I started it, I did enjoy it - I think it was cleverly written and quite a tangled web! Maybe a bit long-winded but I kept going to the end and I'm glad I did. Just a note - the layout was so confusing - it took me a while to work it out - maybe that's just the advance proof copy?

I found this novel quite hard to read as it did not really keep my attention. However the storyline seems well constructed and the ending was unexpected.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which if I had seen in ‘real’ form in a book shop I may not have picked it up as it is quite a lengthy tome and a genre that isn’t my total favourite. Having said that, I am so glad I did read it (on kindle) and really enjoyed all the descriptions of Corsica and a forgotten way of life. I particularly liked the swapping of time frames and correlating the old and modern characters. This is a thriller but a slow burn one. It isn’t a ‘sphincter clenching, page turner’ but it hooks you in and you feel you’re invested in the ride. The ride does come to a fast paced heart thumping conclusion which is well written and very credible.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars and so nearly 5

I loved this book. My second by the author and not a disappointment.

Wonderfully crafted characters, atmospheric descriptions, twists and turns.

The writing style can take some getting used to because of the translation but don’t let this put you off.

A talented author and I can wait for the next.

I appreciate that Michel Bussi is a much- admired crime writer whose novels have been translated into many languages but ‘Time is a Killer’ just doesn’t do it for me. Granted, he portrays the heat of a Corsican summer and a particular Corsican way of life vividly and I enjoyed reading the solipsistic diary of the teenage Clothilde. The tone of these recordings is convincingly adolescent, sometimes wryly funny and full of day-to-day seemingly trivial details of summer holiday life amongst a group of young people.
Twenty-seven years after the car crash on the island that killed the rest of her family, Clothilde returns with her husband and teenage daughter for a trip down memory lane. However, the holiday stirs uncomfortable memories and the adult Clothilde is determined to find out what was really happening a quarter of a century earlier. Why did her capable father seem to lose control of the car on a familiar road? And now, how can she possibly be given a note from her deceased mother? And why does her husband seem so detached from her as she searches for some answers to difficult questions?
Whilst the plot has clearly been tightly woven and Bussi’s depiction of Corsica almost makes me hear the cicadas ‘clicking’ in the British sunshine, this thriller’s narrative is just too drawn out to be truly engrossing. I lost interest in the characters and their various contradictory views, and the only voice that really rang true for me was that of the diarist of 1989.
My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Clothilde, sole survivor of a tragic accident twenty seven years earlier, returns to Corsica with her husband and teenage daughter. Memories of that year come flooding back as she re-encounters her childhood acquaintances, but some odd occurrences make her doubt the reliability of her recollections. Going against the advice of her husband, Clothilde needs to put her ghosts to rest.
Michel Bussi has produced a gripping thriller, page after page when the need to know becomes hardly bearable. Just as in ‘After the Crash’ the author employs the use of a diary writer, alternating chapters between 1989 and now. No stone is left unturned in the search for the truth in this slick, clever and considered novel set in the stunning Corsican countryside.
With thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group

I must admit that I tried to read this a number of times after hearing how good it is. However I really struggled to get to grips with the style and time lines so I didn't really enjoy it and found myself skipping through quickly to finish. Sorry.

A very good story with plenty of twists and turns. It keeps you guessing right till the end. Imagine a car crash kills your mum, dad and brother when you are 15 and you get sent away from the island to live on the mainland never really knowing what happened or why - that is where the story starts and then it takes you on 27 years where the truth starts to reveal itself on a return visit to the island. At times I felt the book was a bit long but it kept me hooked with its intrigue and didn’t disappoint with the ending.

Engrossing, clever, well plotted with excellent characters this was a thriller that really thrilled and unsettled at the same time.

Well translated from the original, the story drew me in from the beginning and I read it in a couple of sittings.

Bussi is an exceptionally gifted author who is rapidly becoming one of my favourites.

I have been a huge fan of Michael Bussi's writing since the publication of 'After the crash'. I really enjoy the way that the crime genre is slightly subverted in his writing. However for some reason I could not click with this story and found the characters irritating in the extreme. I struggled to the end but was left disappointed.

I couldn't stop reading this book even though I tried! For reasons i'm not sure about it was addictive and I just had to finish it; I'm glad I did.