Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s cousin on her “brutal murder”, being “amazed” by West Cork and the new Netflix series

The new documentary series on Sophie's life and death in West Cork arrives this week.

Ever since her death in December 1996, the case surrounding Sophie Toscan du Plantier has rarely strayed far from people's consciousness. Thanks to the hit podcast series West Cork, the investigations into Sophie's murder remain a strong talking point for many, and it will be again be pushed back into the forefront of people's minds this month, thanks to two separate documentary series arriving on streaming services that look further into the case itself. Jim Sheridan's five-part documentary series is available to watch on NOW right now, and a little over a week later, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, a three-part documentary series debuts on Netflix. In the run-up to the documentary's release, we chatted to three of the movie's producers, including Sophie's cousin, Frederic Gazeau. You can check out our full interviews with the producers right here: When we spoke to Gazeau, we asked if Sophie had spoken to him much about her time in Ireland, and whether his impressions of the country have changed at all in the almost 25 years since her death. Gazeau told us: "Before I worked on this project, I didn't know Ireland. I saw, many times, Sophie taking the airplane to go to her [Cork] house. But I didn't go with her because at that time I was student, I didn't have enough money to go with her. "But when I began to work on this project, I went to West Cork, in 2018 for the first time. And I discovered the house and I discovered this area, and I was absolutely amazed. And I could understand why Sophie liked this country. As they say in the documentary, she has a romantic style. With the moors and the land, it is really beautiful. "And I met a lot of people during my time, I spent three or four days there. All of the people are great, I've never seen people as nice as the Irish people. It was incredible to see that, and I understand why it was a shock for all of the community to have this brutal murder in this area, because everything there is really great. And I hope to go back at the end of the year." All three episodes of Sophie: A Murder in West Cork will be available to watch on Netflix from Wednesday, 30 June. Clip via Netflix