THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CHANDRA LEVY

Hélène Coutard

A vanished intern. The implication of a democratic representative. A botched investigation.

Washington DC. May 1st, 2001. Chandra Levy, a young intern working at the Federal Bureau of Prisons disappears. The police don't seem to care as adults disappear everyday in the capital. However, Chandra Levy is not like any other women. She is the lover of Gary Condit, the famous democratic representative. Americans are outraged and journalists run to cover this story. The paths are many, but the investigation is botched as the police makes several mistakes and misses, as if someone was trying to cover the truth.
The disappearance of Chandra Levy has everything to raise the interest of the public: the exposure of the intimate lives of public people, a rich young white victim. The investigation gives way to the craziest theories. Is the government involved? What does this disappearance is supposed to mean?
Hélène Coutard went to Washington and explored police reports, searching for the truth among many incoherencies and the intricacies of the investigation. This unlikely case, similar to a TV show, hasn't finished to reveal its secrets.

In partnership with the French magazine Society, this collection aims to paint a picture of the United States through their biggest criminal cases, with - approximately - one book per state. Society met a huge success with a special editions in two volumes about the Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès case, which sold over 400,000 copies.
The stories are written by French journalists from Society, who were sent to the USA to investigate. Our goal is to offer highly documented and short true crime books that could be read as thrillers, and the result is stunning. The tone is incisive, and straight-to-the-point - as journalists know how to do - and the stories are at the same time as gripping as thrillers, with cliffhangers at the end of chapters.