Crush

I understand why you did it. It'll be our secret. Seventeen-year-old Louise Lacroix is desperate to escape her dreary life.

So on her way home from work every evening she takes a detour past the enchanting house of Jess and Thelma Rooland - a wealthy and glamorous American couple - where the sun always seems to shine. When Louise convinces the Roolands to employ her as their maid, she thinks she's in heaven.

But soon their seemingly perfect life begins to unravel.

What terrible secrets are they hiding?Dripping with tension and yearning, Crush is a chilling Fifties suspense story of youthful naivety , dark obsession - and the slippery slope to murder. Praise for Dard's thrillers:"The French master of noir" Observer"Unsettling... with a twist worthy of Agatha Christie at her devious best... classic French noir" Guardian"Hugely atmospheric" The Times"Disturbing from the outset with strong echoes of Simenon" Sunday TimesFrédéric Dard (1921-2000) was one of the best known and loved French crime writers of the twentieth century.

Enormously prolific, he wrote hundreds of thrillers, suspense stories, plays and screenplays throughout his long and illustrious career.

Bird in a Cage, The Wicked Go to Hell and The Executioner Weeps (for which he won the 1957 Grand prix de littérature policière) are also available from Pushkin Vertigo.