The Body in the Castle Well by Martin Walker

Claudia is a young American visiting France and studying art there.  When she disappears, Bruno goes looking for her.  His dog tracks her to the well they were repairing.  He hears a cat meowing and goes to rescue it.  He's chilled to find a body down there, too.  When it's retrieved, it turns out to be Claudia.  Was it an accident?

Knopf and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (Thank you).  It will be published June 4th.

The man she's studying with has a mixed past.  She wanted to buy part of his art he had acquired.  His housekeeper is a relative and thought she'd inherit it all, so she's not happy to hear that.

When the autopsy report comes through, they find she was on opioids which could have contributed to the fall, but then they identify another drug and they don't think she took it voluntarily.  It was probably in a cup of tea someone gave her.

Bruno looks at the teachers she had, the housekeeper and the ex-con she befriended, her roommate, and her friends.  He finds no answers there, so he looks back in history for potential motives.

It's a long investigation but he sets a trap for them and the killers come.  He finds justice for the young vibrant woman who had a lot of potential before death cut it off.

I like Bruno as a character.  He's a good detective even if his love life is unsettled.  This was a good read.