René Manzor, an extraordinary filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist, immerses his readers in a very tough thriller full of unpredictable twists and turns that goes from the plateaus of the Vercors to the depths of the jungle in Colombia. The shadow of the innocentHer new novel is about a successful writer who is accused of murder. Her DNA is found on the murder weapon… and she has no choice but to run away to find the real perpetrator and clear her name.
René Manzor publishes L'ombre des innocents with Éditions Calmann Levy. © Editions Calmann Levy
This complex story begins in Paris in the offices of a publisher. Just as famous writer Marion Scriba is describing her next thriller, the police arrive and arrest her. The mother is accused of a high-profile murder and her DNA was found on the murder weapon.
Marion Scriba is taken into police custody and protests her innocence. But who can deny DNA evidence? Marion only sees one solution: escape, find the perpetrator and prove her own innocence.
Wim Haag, a Europol agent who had retired a few years earlier, is called back to take part in the investigation. He notices that something is wrong: this woman with a well-ordered life, who writes stories, has a lot of instinct in her escape…
DNA, the queen of evidence
René Manzor has written a super well-made and well-researched thriller. “The trigger for writing the novel was the D'Outreau affair, a monumental miscarriage of justice in which a number of people were accused of pedophile acts. In fact, it was all wrong. I had the feeling that I had been tricked into believing that people were guilty,” he explains in the interview.
“I said to myself: If something like this were to happen today, what could put someone at the center of all the hate? It's DNA. Because DNA is the queen of evidence. Today we condemn with DNA. It is ultimately stronger evidence for a jury than testimony or an alibi.”
René Manzor began studying how DNA was the queen of evidence. “Studying with specialists made me realize that we are not creating a genetic fingerprint, but rather a profile. So, to establish this profile, we relied on the expertise of 13 markers. DNA is ideal for exonerating someone because all it takes is one of the 13 markers to be wrong. But two different individuals can have the same 13 markers.”
Upon further research, René Manzor discovered that studies showed the percentage error was 1%. “So one in a hundred people could be charged even though they are innocent. I said to myself, wait… if one in 100 planes crashed, would you fly?
We want someone who is guilty…
He decided to plan a conspiracy in which a mother with three children would be accused of a crime she did not commit.
“The media and almost political pressure to find the culprit is so great that we are moving almost too quickly. We want someone. We want someone who is guilty. The heroine’s lawyer will advise her to plead guilty because the Queen of Evidence has spoken.”
Marion Scriba will only have one solution: escape. “And suddenly a hunt begins. A double hunt: she is looking for the real perpetrator and at the same time is being hunted by this Europol agent who has been called back to this investigation. It will be interesting to see how this woman who is a novelist ends up using her imagination to escape whoever is chasing her.
The shadow of the innocent
René Manzor
Calmann Levy Editions
Approximately 362 pages
▶ In bookstores from February 28th.
- René Manzor is a novelist, director and screenwriter.
- It has established itself as one of the references of the French thriller.
- His novels have won several awards.
- We owe him something The one whose name is no longer, Apocryphal, live (Grand Prix Iris Noir Bruxelles 2021 and Prix de l'Embouchure 2022, From the depths of the ages.
- He shoots the trailers for his novels himself. You can see that from The shadow of the innocent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQv-yG6WYoQ
- He has family in Quebec.
“Kassar turned and saw through the barbed wire a small figure leaning against the dilapidated concrete wall. Around him, scientific police officers in white overalls were busy with closed faces. The commander stepped forward, knowing that sooner or later she would have to face reality.
The icy wind continued to blow through the openings of the ruined building. The halogen light filtering through the shattered windows gave the scene a sacred atmosphere that did nothing to soften the raw spectacle Kassar was about to discover.
– René Manzor, The Shadow of the Innocents, Éditions Calmann Levy
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