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After the Crash by Michel Bussi
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After the Crash (original 2012; edition 2015)

by Michel Bussi (Author)

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5913039,820 (3.48)22
1 baby after crash. 2 on board. Whose is it ? ( )
  keithgordonvernon | May 1, 2017 |
English (26)  French (2)  Spanish (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (30)
Showing 1-25 of 26 (next | show all)
Well, it made for a different mystery, granted. Who is the baby, and how to prove it? And it was well written, moving nicely between the journal of the private detective and Marc's real time action. But, I'm sorry to say, it just didn't really hold my attention. It took far longer to read it than it should have, so I can't really call it gripping or a true 'page turner'. The ending was kind of predictable, the characters a bit flat and did anyone else find Marc and Lylie's relationship just a little bit icky? I mean they did grow up together after all!

Not bad, but not great. ( )
  Mscezik | Apr 13, 2022 |
After being so impressed by The Double Mother, I searched my library for more books by new-to-me author Michel Bussi and found this. I enjoyed this one as well.

In December 1980, a jetliner on its way from Turkey to Paris crashes into the side of a snowy mountain. Miraculously, an infant girl is the sole survivor. But there is a problem: there were two infant girls on the flight, and two sets of grandparents step forward to claim the baby. One set is wealthy and cultured; the other grandparents are poor and make their living selling snacks from a food van in resort towns. This was in the days before DNA testing could establish relationships, so a judge ultimately awards custody of the child (either Emilie or Lyse-Rose). Although both sets accept the judge's ruling, one set hires a private investigator to see if he can determine whether the baby is Emilie or Lyse-Rose. The investigation goes on 18 years, and on the girl's 18th birthday, he presents his report.

Once again, I found this mystery to be fresh and original. I liked The Double Mother better, but this one is certainly a worthwhile read. My library has only one more book by Michel Bussi for me to get to.

3 1/2 stars ( )
  arubabookwoman | Dec 30, 2021 |
Okay, i liked it at the beginning... and hated all the way down from there, thinking that it's not gonna get more than 2 stars from me. Then suddenly i liked it again at the end, so here it goes with one star more :) ( )
  alissee | Dec 8, 2021 |
This book has a really good storyline but I felt it was to protracted in parts, which slightly spoiled it for me, however,an excellent plot ( )
  karenshann | Dec 31, 2019 |
Very good
  Hjordis | Jun 7, 2018 |
A private investigator, Credule Grand-Duc, is employed by the richer of the two families, the de Carvilles, to continue to investigate the identity of the baby girl for 18 years,with continual financial support, despite the fact that a court has given the baby into the care of the other family.

We see the investigation through his eyes, through the journal in which he has summarised the 18 year investigation for the benefit, he says, primarily of the baby girl who has now had her 18th birthday. The journal tells a meandering story during which little conclusive evidence is revealed.

In this notebook I have reviewed all the clues, all the leads, all the theories I have found in eighteen years of investigation. It is all here, in these hundred or so pages. If you have read them carefully, you will now know as much as I do. Perhaps you will be more perceptive than me? Perhaps you will find something I have missed? The key to the mystery, if one exists. Perhaps..

For me, it is over.

The plot made intriguing reading with Grand-Duc's investigation constantly posing little problems, particularly with what the de Carville family hoped to get out of supporting the ongoing investigation. Is there a hidden agenda? ( )
  smik | Jul 23, 2017 |
Lots of twists and turns in this thriller by Michel Bussi. However, the plot is increasingly far fetched as the story progresses. Meanwhile lots of murders take place but no police are involved and all the 'goodies' (and its debatable just how good they really are as one of them is a murderer) live happily ever after. All in all an OK beach read. ( )
  sianpr | Jul 1, 2017 |
In 1980 an airliner crashes in the French Alps, the only survivor is a small baby girl but there were two baby girls on the plane. Both families claim the child as theirs and the courts award custody to one set of grandparents, the other set must wait and hope that the truth comes out. On Lylie's 18th birthday the private investigator hired by one family gives her his case notes which she passes on to Marc, the man who may or may not be her brother. Marc sets out to find the truth as discovered by the investigator and uncovers eighteen years of lies and deceptions.

I had seen a review of this book in one of the papers and it described it as being 'like reading Stieg Larsson for the first time'. I don't necessarily agree with that description but this is an incredibly clever book. Set mainly in the days before DNA testing, it seems like a fairly standard thriller with a novel premise but then the twists start. A collection of characters with issues of their own, the unveiling of clues and blind-alleyways throughout and the innocence of Marc holding it together, this really is an excellent book and I look forward to more from this author. ( )
  pluckedhighbrow | Jun 26, 2017 |
1 baby after crash. 2 on board. Whose is it ? ( )
  keithgordonvernon | May 1, 2017 |
A plane crashes, an unidentifiable infant is the only survivor, not an easy identification to make because there were two babies on board and this was in 1980 before DNA....So two families go to battle for custody, the French court make a decision, a private investigator spend eighteen years trying so solve the dilemma (and pocket plenty of cash)....Plenty to keep me reading. There are accidents, murders, plenty of intrigue, romance, some red herrings, and a lot of false leads. A couple of times I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong--sort of.

Advanced review copy I rec'd last year -- sorry I just got around to it. It was a good read. ( )
  seeword | Apr 8, 2017 |
This is the sort of book I love to read. Intriguing mystery, suspense, cleverly plotted, interesting characters and a twist in the tail. And the mysteries were evenly spread out between the characters so whichever of them the narrative visited, there was always something exciting going on. Comparisons with Stieg Larsson are spot on in my view. It's the first of his books to be translated into English, and hopefully not the last. ( )
  jayne_charles | Feb 9, 2017 |
After the Crash by Michel Bussi is a 2016 Hachette publication.

Apparently, this book was a huge hit in France a little while back and so has been translated and released in America.

The premise is certainly interesting. A plane crashes, killing everyone on board, save one three month old child. The miracle child is claimed by two sets of grandparents- one wealthy, one poor. A battle over custody of the baby ensues which reaches epic proportions. After eighteen long years, the mystery is still unsolved.

Is the beautiful blue-eyed girl Emilie or Lyse-Rose? To what lengths will the families go to claim the girl as their own? Will the girl ever discover her true heritage?

Once more we have a novel compared to- or 'for fans of' another super powered author or book. This one garnered comparisons to Stieg Larsson and is for fans of…. You guessed it- ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘The Girl on the Train’.

This is one wild ride of a novel that’s for sure, and it held my rapt attention as I watched in shock and horror, the insane battle for control over this child.

The facts concerning DNA in the early 1980’s is also of great interest, and played a key role in the story. These days, it’s easy to determine a child’s paternity, but back then, the best they could do was eliminate someone.

I was impressed by the details in this book, and how the author very cleverly added in events or conversations that didn’t make sense at the time,or seemed rather benign, but would later become an aha moment. So, this author is NOT a panster. This book is outlined and plotted very carefully, and it shows.

However, the twists became a little too far-fetched, and the whole thing spiraled out of control, with way too much going on in the second half of the book. I love a good plot twist as much as the next person, and I especially love a good ‘gotcha’ at the end, but the twists must be well timed, and too many of them thrown in for shock value alone, soon becomes tiresome, and loses its power over me.

I still appreciate a good roller coaster ride now and again, but the cars must stay on the track, or there will be an accident of epic proportions, which nearly happened here. The book didn’t completely go off the rails, but came awfully close.

Without saying too much, the whole thing ended up being too over the top for my taste, although I do see why the book has such a mass appeal. The puzzle over the Emilie/Lyse-Rose’s true paternity was outstanding and I’m still mulling over all the clever details of the mystery. It was the other parts of the book involving the detective, the family sagas, and secret love that got out of hand, becoming almost soapy at times. That, along with some unstable characterizations, stripped away the stylishness of the novel.

Overall, this one didn’t quite live up to the hype for me, but it was still entertaining enough and worth checking out for yourself. The translation, by the way, is very well done, in my opinion. ( )
  gpangel | Nov 6, 2016 |
In 1982, a plane crash on the Franco-Swiss border leaves only one survivor: a three-month-old baby girl. Two sets of grandparents step forward to claim her, one rich, one poor. The miracle baby called Lylie is awarded to the poor family but the other hires a detective to find evidence proving the child’s identity, a difficult task in the days before DNA testing. Now, eighteen years later, the detective has died and Lylie seems to have become an obsession for both families including her brother Marc who has very unbrotherly feelings for her. And now she has disappeared on an unspecified task. Marc is determined not only to find her but to prove that she is not his sister. Using the detective’s journal, he sets out across France in pursuit of the truth.

After the Crash by French author Michel Bussi is divided between Marc’s search and the detective’s journal. The novel has an interesting premise and, for the most part, lives up to it. However, the story is marred somewhat by its lack of credibility in several places eg. the hiring of the detective for an excessively long period (eighteen years) which seems like it could have been shortened, especially with the advent of DNA testing only a few years later, or the fact that, even with the testing, both families keep the results hidden, or why Marc didn’t just skip to the end of the journal and save himself a whole lot of running around. At times, it felt like Bussi was jumping through metaphorical hoops to keep the story from its own fatal crash.

Still, despite its faults, there’s a pretty decent mystery here providing enough incentive to keep the reader’s attention. There are twists and turns and red herrings galore and, if the characters are not overly complex, they are also not boring. The translation is done well and the story moves at a fairly fast pace. Overall, not a bad read if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief beyond its faults. ( )
  lostinalibrary | Jun 19, 2016 |
I picked up this book from the library Wednesday. I sat down that night to see how it looked and read it straight through until 2:00 am! It definitely hooks you so that you keep reading just one more chapter. Each chapter starts with an entry from a journal kept by a private detective, Credule Grand-Duc who spent 18 years trying to solve this mystery.
On December 23, 1980, a plane bound for Paris crashes into a mountain. Of all 169 passengers, all but one, dies in the fire. The sole survivor is a three month old girl who is thrown from the plane. The problem is that there were two baby girls on board so which baby is this one? The families of both girls claim the baby, one a poor family, the Vitrals who sell snacks from a van on the beaches of northern France; the other family the very rich and powerful de Carvilles. Who gets the baby girl? And, do you really know if the right family got her? Very enjoyable and very well translated from the French. ( )
  Dianekeenoy | Jun 3, 2016 |
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

A terrible plain crash on the border between France and Switzerland kills all but one of the passengers. A young baby, merely three months old, survives. Due to an incredible there were two babies aboard the plane, born a few days apart. A battle ensues as she's claimed by the grandparents of both families, one rich and the other poor. But who is she really?

An interesting premise, I was immediately intrigued. You might be thinking: why don't they just do a DNA test to find out, but the story is set in the early 80s mostly, before the emergence of DNA testing. Partly set in 'today's world', which is more accurately the late 90s, partly told via the diary of a private investigator who spent almost 18 years on the case, it's one of those books with a dual POV that I normally can't really stand. Especially since I find it very hard to believe that people would not just skip to the end in case anything important is found there. In this novel, it has been made at least slightly more probable, for which I should give it credit.

It took me some time to figure out what was happening and to solve the mystery, but around halfway I had already a feeling what it would turn out to be. I was not wrong. It was however still interesting to read and I wanted to know whether I was right. Some extra 'suspense' that was given to the story by making it a race against the clock was unnecessary, at least in my opinion. But I still liked the novel.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )
  Floratina | May 26, 2016 |
I won this book. At first thought it was just about a reg plane crash where only a small baby girl survived. But the story too so many twists and turns, had the reader always wondering what was really going on. 1st the baby is claimed by two different families that says she is kin to them?? Rather odd. But each seem to have their reasons for the claim.
The book spans over 18 years before the mystery is solved.

Took a time to start that really had very little spare time to read, so took me a while. But one of those books that you just have to know how ended. Very good read and would recommend to others. Will be in for many surprises along the way. ( )
  snoopysnop1 | May 14, 2016 |
Greed, power, love and persistence drive this uneven mystery. Readers will be drawn into the storyline as it begins with the heart-scattering event that will haunt and frame the lives of two families. Then quickly moves to eighteen years later and intrigues the readers with undisclosed secrets and motives to come. At this point I thought what an excellent premise and settled in for a dazzling read as it became obvious that this storyline would have a good versus evil theme but just what was the good and what was the evil. The format moves back and forth in time with the past being shaped by a mercenary turned detective’s written journal. While the readers know much more than the characters some of the plot twists become predictable and others become unsettling. The storyline became a little too melodramatic for me and I read on to see how my guesses of what happened played out. ( )
  bookmuse56 | Mar 15, 2016 |
Fortunately, you quickly get into the minute by minute timing of this mystery. In some ways I felt as though my time, too, was being wasted by the overly long descriptions in the green notebook! Was this all predictable? Yes and no. The story twists around, band and forth, enough to confuse the reader with a few who-done-its! ( )
  nyiper | Mar 8, 2016 |
A quick read and quite a page turner. Not a lot of character development, but a good story. Fun twists. It did make me think, what would I do. Great read for an escape. Definitely kept my attention. My thanks to Hachette and NetGalley for making this title available to me in exchange for my honest review. ( )
  njcur | Jan 19, 2016 |
The story begins with a plane crash of a flight from Istanbul to Paris in 1980, and then the narrative picks up eighteen years later in 1998. A private investigator, Credule Grand-Duc, is just finishing up a journal recounting his efforts since 1980 to find out the true identity of the sole survivor of the crash, a three-month old baby. Two sets of grandparents in France lost their grandbaby on that plane, with the baby fitting the general description of both Lyse-Rose de Carville and Emilie Vitral. Because DNA analysis was not in use at the time to determine identity, an investigation was conducted, and in the meantime the baby was given the name Lylie, a portmanteau of Lyse-Rose and Emilie.

After eighteen years, Grand-Duc felt he still had failed to solve the case, and decided to kill himself and send his journal to Lylie. And yet, as he raised the pistol to his head, he suddenly knew the answer to the mystery.

The narrative switches back and forth among the interested parties, including, as one of the voices, the pages of the journal Grand-Duc kept and passed along to Lylie before his intended suicide. Lylie’s brother Mark is another voice; he especially wanted to know the truth because he has been secretly in love with Lylie for years, but it would never be possible for them to be together unless she weren’t really his sister.

In fact, all the major players have big secrets, and as the story unfolds, we finally get to learn what they are, and who actually survived the crash that day in 1980.

Discussion: This is a more interesting story than I would have thought, but some aspects of it stretch the limits of credulity. Yes, there was no DNA testing for such purposes in 1980, but what about after that? Why didn’t Lylie and Mark confront the elders who have been dealing with Grand-Duc all these years and demand more answers? Why does Mark, so heavily invested in the outcome of the investigation and pressed for time, read the journal each page at a time chronologically, without skipping to the end to see what Grand-Duc concluded? Why did none of the peripheral players who knew the truth or some part of it never speak up, in spite of the huge amount of reward money being offered?

Evaluation: The mystery kept me reading, but only because it employed some not-too-believable plot lines to keep readers in suspense. There were a number of twists and unexpected aspects to the story that would have impressed me more in a less far-fetched whole. But my reaction may well be aberrant; this French author is quite popular, having won more than fifteen literary awards. ( )
  nbmars | Jan 13, 2016 |
Translated for the first time from France, this book has won multiple awards in its home country. A plane crash, two three month old babies on board and one survives while every other being on the plane does not. Really? Well, stranger things have happened in life, so just go with it. In the time before DNA it is almost impossible to prove which baby this was and so two families, one wealthy with connections, one hard working with no connections both claim the baby as their grandchildren. A court battle ensues. Was reminded a bit of King Solomon here, would one family give up, their claim in the best interest of the child. Of course not, there would be no story if they did.

Alternately narrated by the private detective's journal, he who was hired by the wealthy family and would spend eighteen years looking definitive proof of the child's identity and Mark the young man thought to be the brother of the unidentified child. This is what I call a puzzle mystery, clues are revealed slowly, pieces are assembled but it is not until the final piece that all becomes apparent. Have to admit I enjoyed the journey, constant revelations, trying to guess what would happen and if at times a bit dramatic it still made for a very interesting read. The end, not so sure about but how else could this end? Did not guess either, so there is that. Still for me a very good read. ( )
  Beamis12 | Jan 11, 2016 |
After the Crash came to my attention through a marketing pitch from the publisher. Unlike most pitches though, this one included the prologue and the first chapter of the book. By the time I finished them, I knew I had to read this book to find out what happens. It is one of those books that is the very definition of “unputdownable.”

That’s not to say that the book is without fault. If anything, there are some major issues with the book. The ending is fairly predictable and some of the plot twists are equally so. The characters are somewhat lacking in development, and there are some holes in the plot which make the scene and character narratives a bit difficult to follow.

However, you can easily overlook those deficiencies for the intriguing mystery at the heart of the story. It starts with the crash and immediately heads into a tantalizing hint at the toll this eighteen-year mystery has wrought on those tasked with uncovering the truth. There is also the psychological toll that the miracle baby must face with the uncertainty surrounding her true identity. It is a taut scenario that has major repercussions for multiple characters and what is at the heart of the suspense.

Thrillers make for the type of novels that are just fun to read. There are usually no great expectations of you as the reader, and the story naturally moves at a pace that entices you to keep reading. A good thriller will give you insight into the human mind. Most importantly, they are just entertaining. In that vein, After the Crash more than lives up to its genre.
  jmchshannon | Jan 7, 2016 |
Nice premise and relatively gripping but despite the knowing nods and winks, there are several strained plot devices in here. ( )
  xander_paul | Dec 30, 2015 |
What happens if one baby is the only survivor of a plane crash. The problem is that there were two babies so which baby survived? That is the crux of this wonderful mystery thriller.
The writing is so involved and intricate and there are so many twists and turns that I kept staying up late at night because I could not put the book down.
No one is as they seem to be and any assumption you make usually turns out to be wrong as you go on reading.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review. ( )
  Veronica.Sparrow | Dec 19, 2015 |
AFTER THE CRASH opens with private eye Credule Grand-Duc preparing to take his own life after spending nearly eighteen years failing to discover the truth behind the miracle of the baby who survived a plane crash. Preparing his papers for handover, and setting the scene for his dramatic final act, he contemplates once more the front page from the local newspaper the day that the crash happened. And suddenly realises he finally knows the answer.

Occurring at a time well before the advent of DNA testing, any chance of establishing the parentage of the baby at the time was limited to potential physical evidence - of which the type of clothes she was wearing, the lack or existence of jewellery and the location where she was found are the only possible pointers that the court, and initially Grand-Duc have to work with. The two families have had to resort to court action to settle their claims for the baby girl, one of two on the list of passengers on that ill-fated plane. The hard-fought court case eventually hangs on the slightest of evidence, and enough doubt to lead the court to decide in favour of one family. Accepting the decision, but quietly hiring Grand-Duc on a yearly retainer up until the girl turns 18, the other family clings to the idea that the baby may still prove to be their granddaughter, hence the dilemma that he finds himself in at the eleventh hour.

This is such an intriguing, and utterly believable story told in multiple narratives, switching from the baby girl's brother Mark, and voice of Grand-Duc via his case notes. Along the way there are telling observations around the events of the crash and the aftermath. The fickle attention span of the media, the nature of familial love and connection, and the love of a brother and sister which always seems to have another aspect to it. It's also not a single-threaded story, there are plenty of complications in both of these families, and each set of grandparents are left with one living grandchild into the bargain as well as their own complicated and realistic personal stories. In both these cases the families are always part of the focus, frequently part of the problem, or struggling with many unexpected complications.

Bussi is a master at the art of dropping clues into the narrative that don't become clear until much later, and of frequently leading the reader into a solution which raises more and more questions. Using the case notes of Grand-Duc as the guiding narrative for much of the action also brings in the potential of a highly unreliable narrator, especially as both he, Mark and the second possible sibling seem to be rushing to precipitate a resolution against each other. Of course you could be forgiven for wondering why it is that Mark doesn't simply flick straight to the end of Grand-Duc's notes, but that realisation might only happen with the benefit of hindsight. The quest in this case constantly seems more important than the resolution in the end. Particularly as it becomes clear that the matriarchs of both families have known the truth for much longer than anybody could possibly realise.

The pacing of this thriller is particularly interesting, somehow achieving massive leaps forward in what otherwise feels rather languid, almost rhythmic style. Even for those readers that pick many of the twists and turns coming there is more than enough unknowns to keep most people guessing right until the end of AFTER THE CRASH. Certainly this reader was intrigued, and surprised by the resolution, having got to the point where it felt like just about everybody was stepping up for the position of chief unreliable narrator.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-after-crash-michel-bussi ( )
  austcrimefiction | Jun 25, 2015 |
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