A great way of preparing for any overseas trip is to read about the places you’re going to visit. But that doesn’t necessarily mean limiting yourselves to travel guides, magazine articles or random internet searches.
Try reading novels about your destination — and crime novels specifically — because you’ll get a whole different view of the culture of a place by reading about crime, especially... murder! And French murder is merveilleuse.
Although he was born in Belgium, Georges Simenon is best known for his French detective, Inspector Jules Maigret, commissioner of the Paris Brigade Criminelle. Maigret first appeared in 1931. He’s an intuitive policier — he tries to figure out the criminal instead of dwelling on clues. The famous pipe smoking detective has appeared in more than 80 books that really take you to Paris of years gone by. The fact that this character was killed off the author, and then brought back because of popular demand, speaks volumes. He has been played by at least a dozen actors and the series starring Bruno Cremer is available free on Hoopla.
Going to the Dordogne? That means you must get acquainted with Martin Walker’s Inspector Bruno. Bruno is the only police officer in St. Denis, a village in the Perigord region. His role is not just to protect the citizens but to protect a way of life. I got so caught up in these books — and there are 10 of them — that I could not believe St. Denis was not a real village. What makes them so special is the cast of characters and the delicious way he describes everyday things, especially the food and wine. There is crime — there are murders — and Bruno has a way of figuring out “whodunnit” but it’s the details of village life that are what makes you keep reading his books. We got really excited when we actually saw the villages Walker describes, not to mention eating and drinking the food — and we learned about it while reading about murder. Start with the first book, Bruno, Chief of Police, and work your way through the Perigord, armchair style.
Lastly, I just started reading Fred Vargas, the pen name of Federique Audoin-Rouzeau. Her detective is Chief Inspector Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and the first novel is The Chalk Circle Man. Adamsberg takes a position in Paris and is soon embroiled in a mystery literally on the streets of the City of Lights. Someone is drawing blue chalk circles and placing odd little objects inside them. Adamsberg takes note early on but things become twisted when the body of a woman turns up in one of the circles. It’s left to Adamsberg and his new team to figure out who’s behind it but, being new, he doesn’t know what to expect from his staff, and they don’t know what to make of this interesting man. That’s a great vehicle for setting up misapprehension and conflict. It’s also very descriptive of Paris and the many streets and neighbourhoods .
Vargas has won several International Dagger Awards — they’re given to authors by the Crime Writers Association for non-English written crime fiction. Lucky for us, there are great translators. I’ll keep reading Vargas — she’s a wonderful writer.
So if you’re going to France soon or just want to read some really great detective fiction, head to your public library and check out the mystery shelves. There are many great French detective authors and it would be a crime if you missed out.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Vanessa Colantonio works at Coquitlam Public Library.
