Paris 1933. Two days before Christmas an express train on the way to Strasbourg crashes into another locomotive on the outskirts of Paris and due to poor viability. On board is Gilles Malroux, he has a shady past and tries to stay one step ahead of the police. After he gets out of the badly damaged carriage and a severely injured Gilles swaps his wallet with another mans and he hopes this will throw off anyone who's tailing him. Gilles tries to leave the scene and he doesn’t make it very far and he’s wakes up in a house and an unknown woman is calling him by another name and he’s sure she’s drugging him and he’s in position to stop her.

Camille Malroux works for the French Civil Service as a typist and she’s looking forward to spending Christmas with her brother and they hard childhood and he's her only family member. She’s shocked when the police inform her Gilles was seriously hurt in the train crash and he’s in hospital. Camille visits the injured man, it’s not her brother and she has no idea what happened to him and why the stranger has his wallet and identification papers. Camille is determined to find Gilles, she tries to retrace his movements prior to boarding the train to Strasbourg, not an easy thing to do because he's an expert at covering his tracks and she hopes the mystery man in hospital lives and it's not looking good and so she can find out if he knew her brother, why he was on the train and if they were working together or on different sides.

I received a copy of The Crash from Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. I have been a fan of Kate Furnivall’s since I read her first book The Russian Concubine in 2007 and she consistently writes gripping and thrilling historical fiction and it keeps your attention from the first page and until the end.

This time the narrative focuses on a train crash, why the main character Gilles was aboard and was he trying to fake his own death and his reasons for doing this? Camille’s determination to find her brother and she would make a great private detective and the identity of man in hospital and was he linked to Gilles disappearance. A story about the bond between siblings and Camille in particular was brave and courageous, survival and justice, secrets and mystery, stolen artifacts and the black market trade.

Five stars from me, The Crash is a fast paced novel full of action, with likable and shady characters and with suspense and intrigue and a perfect choice for readers who like a historical mystery with of lots of twist and turns and I highly recommend.

Again a thrilling novel by Kate! I loved the storyline and the brilliant characters (particularly Camille!) made the intricate plot really entertaining! The close bond between Camille and her brother, Gilles, felt real and convincing. Gilles's recklessness and Camille's resilience, courage and determination kept me glued to the novel on their journey full of action and surprises! A great and interesting adventure!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

A fabulous story which grabbed me straight away from the first page. I've always enjoyed Kate's books but, it's been awhile since I've read one so, this was a joy to read. It would make a great film. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.