Going
to the Dogs, by Pierre Lemaitre.
Translated
by Frank Wynne.
What does one do when there are sure signs that one’s
star staff member starts showing signs of losing her marbles? And missing her targets. And disposing of the wrong (Sacre Bleu!)
targets?
Such a fraught problem is presenting itself to the
Commandant, head of a very shadowy organisation that specialises in removing
obstacles (usually of the human kind) to certain people’s plans: efficiency and accuracy in planning are always
paramount, and if the Commandant does say it himself, there is always 100%
satisfaction at the completion of each mission.
Until now.
It is 1985 and Mathilde Perrin, now in her 60’s and a
decorated wartime member of the French Resistance, has always been his most
reliable assassin, fast, skilful and totally reliable – as is he, for he has
the same decorations, shown the same bravery and resourcefulness, the
difference being that Mathilde gets extra pleasure out of killing: there is always an extra unnecessary shot or
wound that demonstrates her sadism, and now she is starting to unravel. And the Commandant is understandably worried
that her deterioration will lead eventually to himself and his
organisation: she must be removed from
his staff by someone cleverer than she.
And so begins Pierre Lemaitre’s sparkling, horrific
Gallic satire on the subject of dementia, the disease that frightens us all as
it waits in the wings and makes random stabs at its random victims: even serial killers are not immune, no matter
how efficient they are at their jobs. As
Mathilde’s condition deteriorates, she starts making dreadful errors, killing
her cleaning lady who hasn’t even started the job yet, killing random people in
a Mall carpark as she goes shopping for shoes, and slitting the throat of her
faithful dog for no reason that anyone can see – except an observant police
detective who interviews her just as a matter of course and finds the head of
the dog under the hedge.
Lemaitre does a wonderful job building up suspense as to who
will be the next victim, and the backstories he has for his great characters
are fascinating; as in real life it’s a
lucky dip as to who will survive till the end of this superb little story and,
as in real life, it’s always the last person one would suspect of finally bringing
Mathilde to justice. SIX STARS
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