Death in paradise

Eight months on, police still hunt for gîte owner's killer

- Jamie Grierson

The quiet village of Trémolat, nestled in the Dordogne valley, is best known for its “cingle”, where the sinuous river forms an Instagrammable loop.

Home to about 700 people, with restaurants, a cafe, boulangerie and wine bar, it is a picture-perfect French idyll and a popular place for a getaway or retirement.

Karen Carter, a British-South African national, knew the appeal of Trémolat well: she ran two gîtes in the village, a beautifully renovated 250-year-old farmhouse and a neighbouring 18th-century stone barn collectively called Les Chouettes.

Carter, 65, who bought the gîtes with her husband, Alan Carter, 15 years ago, divided her time between the Dordogne and the home the couple shared in the city of East London, in Eastern Cape, South Africa. But on 29 April, Carter’s time in the charming hamlet was brought to a brutal end when she was murdered in a frenzied attack outside Les Chouettes, shattering the tranquil existence of Trémolat and triggering a hunt for a killer, who remains at large.

The tragedy has been one of the year’s most intriguing crime stories, becoming the subject of hundreds of column inches and bringing journalists from around the globe to Trémolat.