By Joris Mertens, published by Jonathan Cape. Hardcover, 152 pages, colour, 2025. In the rain-slicked, neon glowing streets of a 1970s continental metropolis, a man called François makes a snap decision that will change his life for good François, in his fifties, living alone and low on cash, does not have the life he dreams of. With a cigarette stuck to the corner of his mouth and wearing his perpetual black suit, he has carried out the same morning routine for 17 years: entering the lottery with his lucky numbers, then knocking back a beer at Café Monico before his shift as the delivery driver for a dry cleaners. His days are brightened only by newsagent Maryvonne and her young daughter. He dreams of winning the lottery to give them a better life. When a routine delivery leads him to knock on the door of a countryside mansion, he enters the scene of a crime whose remains consist of a dozen bodies and a bag full of banknotes. What François chooses to do next could change his fate for good… Visually stunning, atmospheric and replete with the smoking irony of European noir, Dry Cleaned is a masterful tale about an anti-hero radically stepping out of his routine - beautifully illustrated by a breakout international talent.
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