The book is set in a holiday resort on the American / Canadian border in the summer of 1967. Zaza, a teenage girl, disappears and is later found dead, her leg trapped in an old hunting trap. The story then deals in a lot of detail about how the different people involved in finding Zaza reacted to it. I found this part of the book quite difficult to keep reading through as nothing seemed to be happening. It opened my eyes to how homicide detectives carry deaths with them, but I would have preferred more action. Then Zaza's best friend Sissy is also found dead. Again there is an old hunting trap involved. However, this time the police realise that a murder has been commited. From this point on I enjoyed the book. There were the usual read herrings of suspects. I wanted to know 'who done it' and was making up my own theories, only to find that they were wrong. This is what I enjoy in murder mysteries. There was still the psychological aspect to the characters, but the story seemed to move at a faster pace. From struggling to keep reading I started to not want to put the book down. The characters are well written and believable. Much is written from the point of view of a younger girl. The final denouement of the killer is a surprise, although his reasons, once explained, are realistic. I also found that the description of the resort at Boundary Pond allowed me to imagine exactly what I thought that it looked like. When someone went into the woods, I followed them there. When children went swimming, I watched them from the bank. I felt very immersed in the atmosphere of the book. In summary, I found the book a little slow moving initially but it is worth persevering with. It turned into an extremely enjoyable read and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys crime fiction.

The novel is set on the border of the USA and Canada (Maine and Quebec) in 1967, in the resort of Bondrée. It’s 1967. It is the kind of rural and bucolic place that attracts regular summer holidaymakers. Yet there is a dark history here, it is a place full of legend and death, still echoing eerily as the summer unfolds. Two young girls, Zaza and Sissy are perceived as the “red and blonde Lolitas” of the Summer. Zaza however soon goes missing and the carefree holiday time turns to one of mistrust and fear. Told through a couple of viewpoints, this is a slow-burning mystery where the setting is so much part of the story. The use of French words mixed with English gives it a rich feel. The reader can feel the cloying environment as the story unfolds which adds to the creeping pathos; the soundtracks of the Summer are Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and A Whiter Shade of Pale… The writing is incredibly competent and it was this that kept me reading, there is clearly a lot of talent. The storyline however didn’t hook me in. I felt weirdly at times that I was watching a washing machine, with tumbling narrative and characters, and although colourful, it just kept tumbling along, glimpses of people and motives all in a gently whirling mass within different time frames. There is also a character who has the same name as the author which is a thought provoking device, although I couldn’t make up my mind quite what to make of it. The composition of the narrative felt perhaps just a little too over-worked for my taste.

Boundary – Andree A Michaud “During the summer of 1967, a sleepy vacation community on the border of Maine and Quebec is horrified by the murder of two of its teenage girls. When their bodies are discovered in the woods, a detective takes up the case. Told from varying perspectives — including the victim and the murderer himself.” Set in an idyllic summer getaway setting in Canada during the sixties, the book follows the lives of two girls ZaZa and Sissy and what happens to them during that summer. The story is told from many different characters prospectives the main one being of a younger girl, who longed to be part of the friendship between the two main characters and also a detective who is involved in the case. I did not find the book very interesting or gripping, it was a struggle to finish the book as it did not hold my interest and I was not really interested what happened to the characters. The tale was rather drawn out and sometimes too descriptive that the story got lost. I did not find that this story had enough suspense and twists and did not really keep you guessing. I did finish this book because I had been sent it to review but I feel that I would not seek out any other books written by this author.

Boundary by Andree Michaud is a disturbing story of murder in an idyllic setting of Boundary Pond. Boundary Pond is a holiday destination on the US/Canada border where families go to relax and enjoy their natural surroundings. Zaza and Sissy are inseperable and considered a bit flighty to the parents at the pond. When Zaza disappears the community is changed forever as it comes to light there is a murderer in their midst. As time goes on and then Sissy is also found dead the residents begin to leave the pond for good. The story is told through the eyes of a young girl who admired the two girls and also by a detective on the case who has his own problems to add to the story. The characters seem very bland in my opinion, they have no depth and the story is lacklustre. Even the discovery of the murderer is not exciting, just a little boring. The whole novel seems to be an outdated rehash of several other books, which having read many books of this type became boring after a while. I did finish the book purely because I was sent it to review, but I would not have bought it for myself.

'Boundary' is a small town on the Canadian - US border that has gradually been taken over by holiday makers. During the summer of 1967, one of the teenage girls who holiday there, Zaza, is found dead; her body caught in a hunting trap. Is her death linked to the ghost of Pierre Landry, a Canadian trapper who was forced into Boundary's woods when the tourists arrived many years ago, and whose infatuation with a local woman resulted in death? Or does her death signify a killer in their midst? The novel is told from the viewpoint of several of the main characters - mainly another young girl who's staying in the area and the detective who investigates Zaza's death. Although this obviously adds to the suspense of the novel in uncovering the killer, for me it's not so much that the plot device isn't new (which doesn't really matter) but that the plot itself just isn't interesting. I didn't care for any of the characters. The detectives are given some depth of character, but it isn't enough to sustain my interest. When the killer is finally revealed, it's just disappointing. Even the setting of the novel in 1967 doesn't really add anything. Maybe fans of 'classic' crime will enjoy it, but for me the story is just a run-of-the-mill crime story - nothing special, nothing new and nothing particularly gripping. I've read other books by No Exit Press which have been very good, but unfortunately this one isn't one of them.