A breathtaking investigation. — Télé Loisirs

A perfectly mastered suspense. — Télé Star Jeux

Until the last page, the suspense is breathtaking. — Télé 2 Semaines

Vanessa Caffin delivers a psychological thriller of astonishing mastery. —La Marseillaise

Virtuoso. — Avantage

A success, which makes you want to read more. — Be Polar

It’s absolutely extraordinary. —France 5 (Gérard Collard)

It’s a devilishly well-written psychological thriller. — C-News

It’s really well written. There’s some Hitchcock in this novel. — Sur Radio (Gérard Collard)

In a similar vein to Michel Bussi and Joël Dicker, Les heures de la nuit ne rattrapent jamais celles du jour is a captivating novel in which the (realistic and endearing) characters’ lives intertwine until the final plot twist. In which getting to know yourself turns out to be the most fascinating of investigations… Vanessa Caffin, a new voice in popular French literature, intertwines friendship, love and suspense.

Alice lives a life that might seem ordinary. As a literary translator, she has been trying for months to get to the end of the manuscript she’s been working in order to send it off to her publisher – unsuccessfully, alas. Until the day when everything changes. It starts out with nothing more than one of those old shoeboxes where you keep souvenirs, post cards and photos. Going through it, Alice stumbles across correspondence from her teen years. It is unexpectedly upsetting because Alice doesn’t remember any of it. Not a thing. Not Florence or Marianne, her best friends at the time (as Alice concludes from the passionate letters they send each other), nor her first crush.

Alice is determined to reconstruct the puzzle of her own past. But the truth doesn’t allow itself to be dug up easily: Florence died by suicide a few years before, and Marianne did, too. Both friends slipped a dried flower, a pansy, inside their farewell letters. Alice’s favorite flower, it symbolizes loving thoughts and remembrance in the language of flowers… Is Alice in danger, too? As the secrets of her youth gradually rise to the surface, Alice realizes that she can’t trust anyone – not even her own memories.