My earliest memories in life were of Corsica and that was over 60 years ago. 'Time is a Killer' certainly evoked for me the rugged beauty of the place and the fragrance of the maquis all surrounded by the turqoise Mediterranean. Set across several generations we are faced with a car accident where the fatalities numbered three and now one of them has made contact with the sole survivor. That in itself could form a novel but Time is a Killer carefully crafts a background story to events modern and old. Love, unrequited love, family allegiance, honour and wasted youth are the warp and weft in the fabric of this excellent novel. It seemed to distil in its pages all that is Corsica and I'll raise a glass of myrtle to that!

If you are looking for engaging novels more complex and intricately byzantine than they may seem, you can do no better than Michel Bussi, as I have come to find reading Time is a Killer. I first became aware of this French writer's ferocious talent with Black Water Lilies and haven't been the same since. That book set the mark high for me and I am thrilled to report that Time is a Killer is just as touching, gripping and surprising yet thoroughly different. A great find!

Time is a Killer takes place in Corsica when Clotilde returns to the island of her childhood summers after a 27 year absence. She stays away so long because her parents and brother died in a terrible car accident on her last trip, the fateful summer of 1989. During her current stay, with husband and daughter in tow, we recount through the journal of her 15-year-old self the events that took place that summer. A number of odd occurrences take place that lead Clo to the conclusion that the story she grew up believing may not be the full truth.

I loved everything about this book. Clotilde is a sympathetic yet strong character. Her persona at the age of 15 is utterly delightful! I felt her youthful enthusiasm for life and the conviction of her beliefs in a tangible way. I adored her and loved seeing events play out through her rose tinted glasses. The adult Clo is just as authentic but in an "I'm an adult who has lived a real adult's life" sort of way. Just as charming but more grounded. The location of Corsica plays a key role and makes me want desperately to go there. It feels magical and serves as the perfect backdrop to this rich multi-generational drama. The story plot is dealt out on a pitch perfect need-to-know basis that is so well timed. Lots of twists and turns to go around but revealed at the exact right moment. Five stars just doesn't do this novel justice. It is richer and more intense than that. I feel pleased to have read it, having already gifted a copy to a friend. Is there a better endorsement than that?!

This is a story with a strong sense of place. The Corsican background comes through very clearly.
Reference is often made to the twisting mountain roads, and as the plot develops, the reader feels as if they are on one such road. At times you can see ahead clearly and know exactly what is coming, then there is an abrupt shift and a complete change of perspective. It is only at the very end that all becomes clear.
In parts I felt as if it was a little too wordy. Tighter editing would have helped the pace, but I did want to know who the killer was!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Clotilde was 15 years old in 1989. Holidaying, as usual, in her father’s birthplace on the island of Corsica and staying at a campsite on land owned by her grandfather. She is a fairly typical girl of her age – moody, dressing all in black, writing all her thoughts and feelings down in the notebook which never leaves her side – but all normality disappears on the night when the family car goes over a cliff and Clotilde is the only survivor. In 2016, 27 years later, she returns to the island with her husband and her own fifteen-year-old daughter to try to remember the events of that summer. Her memories are sporadic, the notebook containing her thoughts and feelings was never given back to her after her stay in hospital, and the faces from the past she meets give her a variety of contrasting points of view. But then her world is turned upside down when she receives a letter which appears to be from her mother: the mother who perished all those years ago. Her memory gradually resurfaces as she finds out more about the events of that fatal day, old enmities and romances are rekindled and Clotilde’s family are once again in terrible danger. The need for revenge is still active in Corsica.

I really enjoy Michel Bussi’s thrillers. They are atmospheric stories with very, very French settings and, so far, I’ve not yet spotted the real villain before Bussi is ready to reveal them.

A tale of mystery romance and revenge. It is set in Corsica and divided between the present and a summer in the central characters' youth when she was on holiday there. She was in a car accident that killed her parents and brother. On this visit with her husband and daughter whe receives a letter purporting to be from her mother...
The plot is complex and at times far fetched enough to stretch your credulity. You are unlikely to guess who the killer is. The denouement is action packed but stretched my credulity beyond its limit.

Thanks to net galley and Orion Publishing Group for the opportunity to preview this book.

It starts well with a dramatic event that leaves the lead character of Clotilde in a state of shock and bereavement. Then it moves on to 27 years hence, when she returns to Corsica with her daughter and husband. I found it a bit slow, to be honest, and only persevered because of the excellent reviews I'd read.

In summary, not one for me, in that I found it quite difficult to follow at times and the repetition, frustrating.

Time is a Killer is a haunting thriller .I found it very slow to begin with as the plot developed very slowly .The story switches from past to present and is also told through Clotildes teenage diary.I thought the story was very intriguing ,I didn't know what was going on and where the story was leading almost until the end but the ending did tie everything up neatly

I think something has literally, got 'lost in translation' in this book. 'She had always remained in regular contact with them; the odd post card, a birth notice, some photographs, always accompanied by a few words...'. I found it a chore constantly wading through sentences like this one. Some of the narrative is written in the form of a teenager's diary, the style of which didn't ring true to me. The plot developed very slowly and by the middle of the book I realised that I just couldn't care less about any of the characters and wasn't interested to find out what had actually happened. This one wasn't for me, I am afraid.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

First book I've read by Michael Bussi. The translation seems excellent with prose that flows and sounds perfectly natural. The story centres on a car crash in 1989 in Corsica that wipes out most of a family. Clotilde, a family member survives and returns 27 years later to pay her respects and lay to rest some ghosts.

The narrative switches between past and present and bit by bit Clotilde recalls events. The story is set in Corsica and there's a strong sense of place and people. This becomes increasingly important as you realise they're bound by a code of silence and unwilling to reveal secrets of the past. This is a thriller with a difference; although in places it lacked a little pace, the tension does build and the finale was totally unexpected. Well depicted characters and I'm keen to read other books by Bussi.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

I have previously read After The Crash and Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi (both excellent) so I had some idea of what to expect with this new book. So I thought. But Michel Bussi just gets better. He has an extraordinary ability to intrigue. Time is a Killer presents a broad tapestry of the Idrissi Corsican family. A catastrophic car crash in the summer of 1989 leaves three members of a family dead; only the daughter Clotilde survives. Wind on twenty-seven years. Clotilde (Clo) returns with her husband Frank and teenage daughter Valentine. Clo wants to exorcise the past and build bridges with her errant daughter. They visit the ravine where the crash occurred.

”It was here, Valentine. It was here that your Grandpa and Grandma died. And your Uncle Nicholas as well…. Frank and Valentine appear disinterested.

In 1989 Clotilde kept a journal of events that summer. It remained lost for twenty-seven years. Or so she thought. Someone is reading it. Could it contain clues to what really happened? And then Clotilde receives a letter, in her mother’s unmistakeable handwriting. As if she were still alive…

Bussi moves smoothly from events in 1989 to present day. Fragments of memory return to Clotilde. But how can her mother be alive? The tension and menace builds, page after page. The pace is relentless as further clues surface. The reveal is breathtaking.

The Corsican characters are totally believable, some hide behind omertà, the code of honour that places importance on silence and non-cooperation with authorities. What is there to hide?

Michel Bussi has written another compelling and stunning read with a truly shocking ending. Certainly a candidate for my Best Read of 2018.

Praise must also go to Shaun Whiteside for the brilliant translation from the original French.

Highly recommended.

I became a fan of Michel Bussi after reading After the Crash so I was so pleased I was accepted to read this. It started off well and there was lots of intrigue around a crash that killed Clotilde’s family 27 years ago. However, as the story went on I felt it was all a bit too drawn out. It went on too long and kept going over the same information with nothing really new happening. I was slightly disappointed as I really wanted this to be good but I’m afraid it’s only slightly above average.

This book was very slow to start and I felt it was just around the last quarter of the book that it really started to to keep my interest going. So I am afraid I would not recommend it. I thank Netgalley and the publisher the chance to review it.

This is a superb book - really well written and translates well into English. The book chapters alternate between now and 27 years before building up to what happened on August 23 1989. I was never certain who was responsible for the crash and why mysterious things were happening now. You are taken down a path and think - yes it must have been character A then something happens to disprove this and lead you to suspect character B and so on. I didn't really work out who it was before the final revelation. A book not to miss. My only criticism is that the book seemed to be longer than it needed to be. I read the book on my Amazon Fire tablet and I would read quite a few pages only to find the percentage complete had increased by only 1% or 2%. Nevertheless well worth reading

There are lots of intelligent components in this international thriller; The backstory in the form of a real-time teenage diary. Corsica's way of life that is often at odds with the legal system and government that allows illegality to go unpunished and the parallels between the family in August 1989 and the family in 2016.

The characterisation is convincing and compelling, through Clotilde's eyes they come alive both in the past and present. The twisty plot takes away as many clues as it gives and to truly understand it you must accept the Corsican culture's uniqueness.

Compelling and detailed it's a page-turning read but a very long story. The repetition is necessary for the story as Clotilde's memories return but this adversely affects the pacing and reduces the impact of the revelations.

There is an overriding sadness to this story of loss and, so many lives blighted but the ending is adrenaline-fueled and suspenseful, and the balance of good and evil returns.

I received a copy of this book from the Orion Publishing Group W&N via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Clotilde Idrissi, a young 15 year old girl who spben nds her summer holidays in Corsica, the home country of her father. The summer of August 1989 sees Clotilde enjoying the time with her brother and other friends, keeping a record of her feelings and observations in a diary that never leaves her side - until one day after a family argument her father drags her away leaving the diary behind. Little did she realise that day, the 23rd August 1989 would end with a car crash that killed her parents and brother. The story then jumps 27 years when she decides to return to Corsica with her husband and 15 year old daughter to pay respect and memory to her lost family. Her return to the island brought back memories of that last summer, but also aroused memories of another - somebody who found her diary, read her words and knows that the truth is about to be revealed. The book switches between the three weeks of August 1989 and the same three weeks in August 2016 leading to the anniversary of that car crash. Is history repeating itself? Who has her diary and who has been sending her letters containing details only her mother would know... except her mother is dead?

The first few chapters of the book are a bit confusing as they sets the scene between the two years but once it settles down and flows it grips you to the end with a few unexpected twists. Look forward to reading more from this author.

This is my first novel from this author so wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Unfortunately I found it quite slow going which made it hard to read so I didn’t manage to finish it. I will try another novel from this author and will review that in due course.

This book revolves around Clotilde, a married mother visiting Corsica where her father’s family live and where she used to holiday as a child. During one of these holidays, her father, mother and Brother died when their car went over the edge of a cliff. Clotilde was the only survivor. Or so she has always thought, As the days of her holiday go on, she starts to investigate the events surrounding the tragedy and whether it was an accident after all. She also receives a strange message which she believes can only have come from her mother. Interspersed with this current investigation is the reading of her diary from the year of the crash. It is this part that I enjoyed the most as her teenage self has such a unique view of everything. I was keen to find out the truth and hadn’t guessed it all. The only thing that spoiled it for me was that some of it seemed very far fetched which is why I am giving it three stars instead of four. I liked the characters of Clotilde and her daughter. Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sorry to say, despite loving After the Crash, this one is not for me. I found it slow and rather dull. Perhaps if I’d persevered, a good story would have evolved but I gave up. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Time is a Killer, but it was a poor choice from me.

After 27 years, Clotilde returns to Corsica to visit the scene of the accident that killed her parents and older brother. The longer she is there though, the more Clotilde begins to wonder if it really was an accident.

The viewpoint alternates between the Clotilde from 1989 (in diary form) and the present-day one. I'm really not sure of what I made of this one; it was very slow at the beginning, and although it picked up part way through the book, I wasn't overly enamoured with the ending. I didn't find any of the characters appealing - Clotilde's daughter was particularly annoying, and her husband not much better. Without giving away any spoilers, there's only one character I had any sympathy for at all.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers, Orion Publishing Group, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

What was supposed to be a three week holiday in her ancestral and idyllic Corsica turns into a defining time for the 15-year-old Clotilde. Not only does she fall in love for the very first time, but she discovers that her parents and brother have secrets, which culminate in a tragic and fatal accident.

The sole survivor, Clo revisits the events 27 years later by taking her husband and 15-year-old daughter to see her grandparents. From the first day odd and disturbing start to haunt Clo, who becomes increasingly isolated from her family and who gets sucked in ever deeper into the memorues of ehat happened all those years ago. The reader alternates between 2016 and 1989, as the events are told from her diary of that summer that she lost just vefore the accident.

This is a startling psychological thriller that strongly reminds of Tell Noone. Up to the very resolution the suspense is skillfully maintained and one cannot help but be transported to the beautiful island that shapes the setting of the story. The characters are believable, even though perhaps very French in how they are depicted. It is a story of love, jealousy and bonds between parents and children as well as people and their place of origin. For someone who knows nothing about Corsica aside from the fact that it's Napoleon's birth place, the beauty and culture of the island was described in vivid colours without detracting from the plotline. Aside from a few language quibbles and the problematic kindle version, the only other criticism that I have is tgat a certain device was employed tgat us usually considered a cop out in crime writing - that of the doppelganger. While it was just about believable here, it is what it is.

Overall I enjoyed the book and it kept me reading. When I make it to Corsica I am sure I will try to visit the landmarks of the landscape I now feel I know so well.