Elise Andrioli had it all: beautiful, managing a bustling movie theatre, engaged to be married and surrounded by friends. But when a terrorist bomb shatters her world, leaving her suffering from "locked-in" syndrome, she must be taken back to her family home near Paris.
But back in this quiet suburb, Elise's new life doesn't begin in tranquility. Young boys keep disappearing in the local forest, only to be discovered days later, dead and horribly mutilated. The murderer is swiftly given the grisly name of "Death from the Woods".
One morning, while waiting in her wheelchair outside a supermarket, Elise is approached by a strange little girl named Virginie, who confides that she was present when Death from the Woods murdered Michael, a little boy reported missing several days earlier. Later that afternoon, Michael's death is confirmed on the local news. All too soon, Virginie will inform Elise that she herself is a target . . .
Haunting and powerful but shot through with spiky humour, 'Death From The Woods' is the British debut of one of Europe's most gifted storytellers. It is both the gripping story of a community under attack from outside, and the tale of one woman's fight to get back her life.
Winner of the 1999 Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere.