The Three Evangelists, by Fred Vargas

March 31, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, crime book, Fred Vargas, French writer, Prize winning novel 

This is not a Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg mystery. The sleuths in The Three Evangelists are instead somewhat unusual – actually a trio of 30-something historians under the auspices of a retired policeman.

This odd group lives together The Three Evangelists, by Fred Vargasin an old, ugly house in Paris known as “the disgrace”. The evangelists are Medievalist Marc Vandoosler, Great War historian Lucien Devernois and prehistory specialist Matthias Delamarre, three down-on-their-luck historians. In this book, they join forces to solve the mysterious disappearance of their neighbor, former opera singer Sophia Siméonidis.

The first little mystery in the book is sudden appearance of a beech tree in the garden of Madame Siméonidis. The tree – planted under cover of darkness – worries her, and she doesn’t know who planted it or why, so she asks the historians to dig it up and investigate. Nothing suspicious is found under the beech.

Then Madame Siméonidis disappears, and a few days later her body is found in a burned out car. Now the Evangelists launch a full-scale investigation, aided by Marc’s godfather Vandoosler, the former policeman. There are plenty of possible suspects, but there is little evidence to go by.

This book, with a plot that twists and turns, was awarded the Duncan Lawrie International Dagger in 2006. Even so, The Three Evangelists is a strange crime novel, with eccentric, lovable characters. As usual in Vargas’ books, there are lots of interesting and odd conversations, and the book is intelligently and humorously written. Reading it is a complete delight if you like intelligent, well written mystery novels. If you are looking for fast paced action, on the other hand, this is probably not the book for you.

Praise for the works of Fred Vargas:

“A Vargas novel is as good as a trip to Paris.”
–Daily Express

“Fred Vargas is a wonderful writer. Much of the joy of reading this book lies in Vargas’s wonderful use of language, her subtle characterizations and her superb sense of place.”
–Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail

“Joyous, enchanting, amazing, fantastic, unclassifiable, beyond-brilliant. Readers will not hold back praise for Fred Vargas.”
–Elle (France)

“Vargas is clearly an author who will rank alongside Henning Mankell. .. Creepy, sophisticated and wonderfully off-beat.”
–Scotland on Sunday

Links to Fred Vargas’ books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

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Have Mercy on Us All, by Fred Vargas

March 14, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, crime book, Fred Vargas, French writer, Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, Main character, recommendation 

This is the third book in the series about the eccentric and very special Detective Commisaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg. And it is a fantastic book. At least, to me it Have Mercy on Us All, by Fred Vargasis. It is a book that made me laugh, and feel great respect for Fred Vargas for her wonderful observations and astonishing descriptions and dialogues. And Have Mercy On Us All was a considerable hit in France as well. It was chosen by the booksellers of France and by the readers of Elle magazine as their Book of the Year.

In this book the eccentric, enigmatic and intuitive detective – in an eccentric plot – has been made commisaire principal, head of a new section in the Paris police force. His style of leadership, of course, is as interesting as the commisaire himself!

At the center of this book is the threat of plague – the Black death, no less in Paris. A murderer, or several, creates a panic in Paris while they systematically kill people. But why? How are the victims and murderers related? Why do the use the plague as a guise? And, of course, who are the killers? There are many and complicated questions and very few clues. Even Adamsberg, so famous for his intuition and photographic memory of images, as well as for his unclear, convoluted, sometimes quite muddled thinking, loses track of it all, somewhere in the great sea of his unfinished thoughts.

We meet a number of very interesting characters. There is Adamsberg’s assistant, Danglard, trying to bring an element of order into the chaos of Adamsberg’s thinking. And the town crier Joss Le Guern, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, who is used as a medium of communication for the murderers. There is also the mystical Decambrais, the lovely Camille with whom Adamsberg has a complicated romantic involvement, as well as several other very interesting persons. An engaging cast of very strange yet real characters, often amusing, and usually recognizable as bearing a resemblance to folks we have known. Together they make this a rich work of fiction alongside the wonderful crime novel.

Have Mercy On Us All is a strange, twisted, gothic thriller. It is impossible to categorize. It is also well planned, very thoughtfully written, excellently observed, very human and totally absorbing. It will make you laugh as well as excite you. It is, simply, a fascinating read!

Link: Fred Vargas at amazon US. You can order Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas from amazon UK as well!

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