French writer Guillaume Musso, born in 1974 in Antibes, has dominated France’s sales charts for more than a decade. His crime and thriller novels have sold more than 32 million copies worldwide in the past year. This level of popularity has earned him a share of criticism from some literary critics. In 2021 he received the Raymond Chandler Award, recognizing him as a leading contemporary master of the detective novel. Following the Spanish release of his latest work Angélique in November, he gave an interview to Grupo Prensa Ibérica’s El Periódico de Catalunya at the Calmann-Lévy publishing house in Paris.
You have been France’s most read writer for over a decade.
This represents great pride for me.
But aren’t you paying a price for this? Some literary critics belittle him because of his commercial success.
Maybe I pay a price for this, but I pursue it with great satisfaction. When I was young, I dreamed of being like Stephen King, Marcel Pagnol, or René Barjavel, not of winning the Goncourt or Renaudot prizes. I would be happy to receive an award, but my life does not hinge on it. Popular and entertaining literature can be demanding too. Many writers have proven this, and I was glad to see Pierre Lemaître win the Goncourt in 2013 or Jean-Baptiste Andréa this year.
He has published more than 20 novels. How does he find inspiration?
The guiding principle for twenty years has been to write the story he himself wants to read. He first tells the tale to himself, aiming to embody a dual role: writer and reader at once, shifting from one vantage to the other. He also seeks a two level reading in his books. On one level, they should be a pleasure to read, with tension and a page turning momentum. On another level, they should address a deeper issue. The goal is to blend delight with reflection.
What did he mean by the example of Angélique?
He wanted to portray a character driven by deep disappointment and resentment and explore how that can lead to crime. Resentment is a prominent emotion in France and other European countries today. Sometimes such disappointment can drive positive change, yet it can also fuel obsessive thoughts and bitter behavior.
And this is a feeling that can offer many possibilities on a literary level…
Yes, definitely. When creating a story, it helps to have characters motivated by anger. When someone believes they are not where they deserve to be, that belief can push them to break the rules and become a driving force in the plot. This is what happens with Angélique, the nurse in the novel.
Most of his books are set in the United States, but Angélique unfolds in Paris. What draws him to the French capital on a literary level?
Musso was born and raised in Antibes but now lives in Paris for love, his wife being Parisian. Living in the city, he aims to describe it honestly, avoiding postcard versions of Paris as seen in Woody Allen films or TV shows. Angélique reveals a city that Parisians love and also love to critique.
In fact, it honestly portrays the Paris during the pandemic years.
As a writer, Musso sees the novel as a mirror of society. He writes contemporary books that stay relevant to their time. Angélique was crafted in late 2020 and 2021, a period without a strict quarantine but with a nightly curfew. He wanted the contradictions of France during the epidemic to surface in the story. It was a cold, strange Parisian theatre, an interesting backdrop for a writer. Post-pandemic mindsets shifted, and many people turned to conspiracy theories and beliefs they would not have considered a few years earlier.
What are his literary references?
On one hand, Patricia Highsmith stands out as an influence. The writer’s diaries, released a few years ago, reveal a fascinating mental makeup. Highsmith focused on the ambiguity of characters and the way they bend rules. On the other hand, George Simenon is a major influence. His approach with Inspector Maigret centers on understanding characters without passing moral judgments about them.
Another reference is director Alfred Hitchcock.
Yes, there is a clear Hitchcock influence in Angélique. The voyeuristic tension and the character of the young nurse looking out from her room’s window are telling. Musso admires Hitchcock’s ability to blend suspense with a playful edge. The filmmaker believed stories should invite the audience in, not build a legend for the director. Musso aims for the same approach in his novel.
Literary criticism often distinguishes between storytellers and high literature. Does he share this distinction?
No, he rejects the urge to classify what literature is. It can feel pretentious and condescending. He is not interested in strict categories. Instead, he writes hybrid novels that resist being boxed into a single movement or genre.
He publishes a new book almost every year. Why this pace?
He avoids stagnation. He wants his children to see him working daily. The craft is not about laziness or lack of rigor. Each morning starts with taking the children to school, then a visit to the publishing house, followed by work until lunch, and an afternoon of writing in another space. He values a structured life and finds it hard to switch off. As Haruki Murakami notes in What I Talk About When I Talk About Writing, the challenge is to publish not just one or two novels, but many—fifteen or twenty. Writing has become part of his life.
He will publish his 22nd novel in France at the start of next year. What can be shared about it?
The story begins on the Lérins Islands near Cannes. Beyond that, there is nothing more he can reveal at this time.