Features

Five of the best French crime authors

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Who’s the best French crime author? Plenty will probably jump to the name Georges Simenon. Although he was Belgian, he set most of his novels in France and enjoyed a prolific career writing stories about his detective Maigret. They’re even on the telly. Those with…
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Features

Philip Rafferty: Top five books of 2017

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My top five this year focuses on a series of detectives, investigators and people searching their way out of investigations who are pulled back in. Martin MacInnes’ unnamed investigator is retired but takes one more case that becomes an infinite house of mirrors. Fred Vargas’…
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Book Club

The Accordionist

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The Accordionist is the third, final, and best book in Fred Vargas’ Three Evangelists series. Retired detective Louis Kehlweiler is trying to distance himself from the investigative life he left behind when a page six article about two women who have been murder draws him…
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iBookKindlePrintReviews

The Accordionist

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Written by Fred Vargas, translated by Siân Reynolds — Retired investigator Louis Kehlweiler is working on a translation of a book about Otto Von Bismark. He is deep in thought, but a headline he saw out of the corner of his eye keeps distracting him from the work…
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News

The flavour of French noir

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On the Radar — This week sees new releases from two of France’s finest contemporary novelists: Fred Vargas and Pascal Garnier. So, get ready for a holiday featuring murder and intrigue that will take you from Paris to the wild mountains of Western France. We’ve…
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Features

MarinaSofia: Top five reads of 2016

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2016 has been the year of championing the underdog, at least when it comes to reading and reviewing crime fiction. Yes, I have one major international name and one bright new star of British crime on my list of top five crime reads, but the other three choices…
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Book Club

Climate of Fear

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Alongside Pierre Lemaitre, we reckon Fred Vargas represents the best of contemporary French crime fiction and the author is fully on form with A Climate of Fear, the latest Commissaire Adamsberg book. This mystery begins in Paris, where an old woman, barely able to walk, drags…
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iBookKindlePrintReviews

A Climate of Fear

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Written by Fred Vargas, translated by Sian Reynolds — One of the challenges when writing a long-standing series is to find ways to keep it fresh and interesting. In her ninth Commissaire Adamsberg book, Vargas takes the inspector abroad. It’s not the first time she’s done…
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