It's Christmas Crime (5) - Lisa Appignanesi

Author Lisa Appignanesi was born in Poland, grew up in Paris and the province of Quebec and now (I believe) lives here in the UK. The Dead of Winter was published here in 1999.

Publisher's blurb: A deranged assassin has gunned down fourteen women students in Montreal. Celebrated Actress, Madeleine Blais, is haunted by a sense that somewhere out there, where her filmed image roams so freely, someone is determined to kill her too. Her old friend and lawyer, Pierre Rousseau can do nothing to shift her growing despair. So when on Christmas morning she is found hanging in a barn close to her grandmother's cottage in the small Laurentian town of Ste-Anne, the obvious verdict is that Madeleine's depression has driven her to suicide. Only her grandmother's unshakeable belief in Madeleine's love of life induces the police to launch a murder investigation, in which Pierre, with secrets of his own to hide, takes a leading role.

I haven't read this book but one of the reviews says that it will appeal to fans of The Secret History by Donna Tartt (which I loved).