'This short but sweet mystery... is a delicious jeu d'esprit' The Times

'Masterful storytelling that brings the streets of Paris to life' Sun

One patient. One therapist. Five floors of intrigue.

Nathalia Guitry is an enigma that psychotherapist Doctor Faber can't solve. A photographer unable to work since witnessing a murder, she seems impervious to his usual techniques. He hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since she walked into his consulting room.

Desperate to break through her façade, he proposes something unusual: she'll write him a story about each resident of the building opposite, floor by floor. But as he becomes consumed by her tales, his own mask begins to slip. How does she know so much about these strangers' lives? And what's waiting on the final floor?

Translated by Louise Rogers Lalaurie.

Antoine Laurain was born in Paris and is a journalist, antiques collector and award-winning author of ten novels, including The Red Notebook and The President's Hat. His books have been translated into 25 languages and sold more than 200,000 copies in English. He lives in Paris, France.

Louise Rogers Lalaurie is a writer and translator from French. Her translations include Frédéric Dard's The King of Fools and The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths by Olivier Barde-Cabuçon, both published by Pushkin Vertigo. Her work has been shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award, the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature and the Crime Writers Association International Dagger.

Antoine Laurain was born in Paris and is a journalist, antiques collector and award-winning author of ten novels, including The Red Notebook and The President's Hat. His books have been translated into 25 languages and sold more than 200,000 copies in English. He lives in Paris, France.