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Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke with Vicki Burger of 


Vicki Burger has been entranced with a literary mystery translated from French.

"Black Water Lilies" by Michel Bussi is set in Giverny, France, on the spot where Claude Monet painted his famous water lilies. 

It takes place over two weeks, and is a study in threes: There are three murders — one at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end of the book — and there are three women wrapped up in the drama.

"One is an 11-year-old art prodigy," Burger said. "The other is a very attractive, middle-aged schoolteacher. And the third woman is an 83-year-old crone who lives in the mill house beside Monet's pond where he painted his water lilies."

The book's English-language paperback version was just released in February, but it was originally published in French six years ago. The translation of Bussi's work, Burger says, sings not only in plot but in composition, too.

"I love mysteries, but this is a very literary mystery," she said. "He is able to paint pictures with words much in the same way Monet was able to paint his water lilies. It's one of the most creative plots I've ever read, and the ending will definitely surprise you."

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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Vicki Burger is still entranced with "Black Water Lilies," a literary mystery that takes place on the shores of the pond where Claude Monet once painted the water lilies.

Vicki Burger is still entranced with "The Black Lilies," a literary mystery that takes place on the shores of the pond where Claude Monet once painted the water lilies.

A literary mystery planted around Monet's water lilies

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