The Devil’s Choir

In Michaud’s third Victor Lessard thriller to be published in English (after Without Blood), the troubled Montreal detective sergeant and his team are called to the scene of a gruesome axe-murder of what was, by all accounts, a happy, church-going family. The police arrive to find the house filled with thousands of flies. Despite this anomaly, Lessard’s superiors are quick to label the case as a murder-suicide, perpetrated by the father. Lessard disagrees, but nonetheless he begins to doubt himself, wondering if he’s simply trying to transform this domestic murder-suicide into a different kind of crime to sublimate his own father’s murderous rampage of 30 years earlier. When Lessard’s deepening depression and hallucinations become evident to his colleagues, he’s put on leave. Still, he persists, and his private investigations make him a target for a professional killer. Around every corner of this labyrinthine plot a new and disturbing reality arises, including kinky sex, torture, child abuse, and a mission from God. Lessard is a damaged man, but a keen detective. Readers will hope he has a long career. Agent: Abigail Koons, Park & Fine Literary and Media (Canada). (Nov.)