Investigating judge Dominique Bontet has a reputation for never closing a case before the end of the legal deadline. The victims deserve this: faced with their shattered lives, she must give them until the last second. The file on her desk today tells the story of Gabi and his parents, Anna and Thomas, and of the evening when the little boy ran onto the pier, tripped over a mooring ring, and fell into dark waters, his father powerless against the waves. Between the lines, she discerns the infinite wound of loss, the cracks in the couple, the guilt of a man who could not save his family. It is a tragically simple drama: just an accident. Yet, she can’t come to a conclusion. Every day, women come into her office asking for help and she wishes that for once a father would be a hero. And she has learned that there is no such thing as a simple story. So she’s going to start all over again.
In this dark psychological novel, Fabrice Tassel invites us to go beyond appearances to discover the dark side of every family: the secrets, the lies and the crimes that are not always the ones we expect.
