By: Fred Vargas
The first in the Commissaire Adamsberg series, this mystery has a distinctly French/European flavor as the plot advances more through character development than action. The commissaire is a great thinker and doodler whose patience sometimes annoys but ultimately improves the performance of his staff. He longs to find his beloved Camille, who left him years before. Other cast members are eccentric and psychologically intriguing, as well as surprisingly interconnected. Is the murderer an obsessive-compulsive, drawing blue chalk circles around seemingly random objects with an occasional victim? Or is it all coincidental? I read the sequel, Have Mercy on Us All, some time ago and plan to skim over it again before continuing with this excellent series. Review by Anne.(Fiction) 08/24/09
