That Dark Spring : A True Story of Death and Desire in 1920s Provence

WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION ‘I couldn’t stop reading it’ – Lissa Evans, author of Small Bomb at Dimperley ‘A fascinating true crime case study . . . deeply moving’ – The Times A gripping, explosive murder mystery by acclaimed true crime writer Susannah Stapleton. In April 1929, the body of British artist Olive Branson was found submerged in a water tank outside her farmhouse in a picturesque Provence village. Dressed only in a pink shirt and stockings, she had a bullet hole between her eyes and a revolver by her side. Was it suicide – or murder? The initial investigation concluded suicide, but under pressure from Olive’s family to conduct a murder enquiry, city detective Alexandre Guibbal was brought in to reopen the case. Examining never-before-seen evidence, acclaimed true crime writer Susannah Stapleton builds a vivid and absorbing picture of an unconventional life and a violent death, and an investigation that shines a bright light on a village simmering with resentments and dangerous rivalries . . .