Translated from the original French, How’s the Pain ranked as MarinaSofia‘s favourite crime book of 2012. She said: “This, to my mind, is the perfect noir: a tragicomedy about an unlikely friendship between the ageing vermin exterminator Simon (AKA a contract killer) and the naïve youngster with no particular talent, Bernard. The two embark on an odd sort of road trip to the south of France for one last job before retirement, meeting an array of eccentric characters on the way. Deceptively simple yet oddly lyrical, How’s the Pain? made me laugh, made me cry, and left a profound impression on me long after I had finished reading it.”

Read the full review here.