First discovered with Rosine, an ordinary criminal, winner of the Grand Prix de littérature policière 2021, Sandrine Cohen returns with an investigation full of rage, to approach violence from its most intimate, most perverse angle.

At 17, Antoine is a brilliant high school student who has grown up in an upscale suburb. Until one afternoon, in the middle of a family meal, Antoine points an unloaded hunting rifle at his father and shoots. But the gun is indeed loaded and his father dies instantly.

Criminal psychologist Clélia Rivoire must trace Antoine’s life trajectory so that she can understand his actions and provide evidence for his upcoming trial. But Antoine doesn’t give anything away; he shows no emotion, has a controlled speech and a surprising knowledge of the judicial system.

Clélia realizes that Antoine might be lying to protect his mother. To understand why Clélia will delve into the twists and turns of the Durands, an ordinary family built on a foundation of violence, racism and exclusion where wrongs have been repeating themselves over generations.

How to judge someone for a murder they may have been justified? Who decides?

Sandrine Cohen is a novelist, screenwriter and director of TV series and documentaries. She draws on reality to fuel her fiction. Her novel, Rosine, une criminelle ordinaire (éditions du Caïman, 2020) has received various awards including the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 2021. Tant qu’il y a de l’amour (éditions du Caïman, 2022), her second novel, received the Prix de l’ailleurs in 2023.