The French girl

the long version

"Memories from her trip to France still haunt Kate Channing almost a decade after the fateful vacation. The image of her French neighbor, Severine, is as clear as if she had seen her yesterday--despite the fact that Severine went missing just as the vacation ended. And when the case is reopened, bringing with it resurfaced secrets, rekindled affections, and dangerous enemies, Kate wonders if she will ever be able to rid herself of the ghost of the haunting and silent young woman. As the investigation speeds forward and alliances can no longer be trusted, she begins to understand that the stakes of this game are her own survival"-- Provided by publisher. They were six university students from Oxford-- friends and sometimes more than friends-- spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was the perfect summer getaway... until they met Severine, the girl next door. For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group's loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Severine was never seen again. A decade later the case is reopened when Severine's body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her, and her own shifting memories.