That Dark Spring
24 April 2025Synopsis
'I couldn't stop reading it . . . a classic of true crime' - Lissa Evans, author of Small Bomb at Dimperley
'A fascinating true crime case study . . . deeply moving' The Times
A gripping, explosive murder mystery by acclaimed true crime writer Susannah Stapleton.
In April 1929, the body of British artist Olive Branson was found submerged in a water tank outside her farmhouse in a picturesque Provence village. Dressed only in a pink shirt and stockings, she had a bullet hole between her eyes and a revolver by her side.
Was it suicide – or murder?
The initial investigation concluded suicide, but under pressure from Olive’s family to conduct a murder enquiry, city detective Alexandre Guibbal was brought in to reopen the case.
Examining never-before-seen evidence, acclaimed true crime writer Susannah Stapleton builds a vivid and absorbing picture of an unconventional life and a violent death, and an investigation that shines a bright light on a village simmering with resentments and dangerous rivalries . . .
Details
24 April 2025
9781529065565Reviews
That Dark Spring is brilliantly structured and perfectly paced, and I couldn't stop reading it. Susannah Stapleton writes with beautiful clarity and has produced a classic of true crime. Lissa Evans, author of Old Baggage and Small Bomb at Dimperley
Stapleton is a masterly storyteller. She brings a vanished world to lifeJudith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder
A gruesome but richly fulfilling thriller Literary Review
'A fascinating true crime case study . . . A ghost story, a tale of folk long-dead, a portraitof a vanished world'The Times
