An Uncertain Place

Starred review from September 12, 2011
Bizarre crimes drive Vargas’s excellent sixth Commissaire Adamsberg mystery (after 2008’s The Night’s Foul Work). While in London for a conference, Adamsberg and his commandant, Adrien Danglard, inadvertently share in a macabre discovery: 17 shoes found next to Highgate Cemetery—with 17 severed feet inside. Back in Paris, Adamsberg confronts a horrifying, surreal murder: someone has literally torn to shreds Pierre Vaudel, a well-to-do retired journalist, in his living room. The main suspect, Émile Feuillant, Pierre’s gardener, certainly has a temper—and a police record. But would a murderer name his silly dog Cupid? A cryptic message sent by Pierre to a woman in Germany and an eerily similar murder in Austria force the investigation to go international. Meanwhile, Adamsberg slowly realizes that a new suspect is emerging: himself. Vargas, who’s won the CWA International Dagger three times, keeps her zany plot under tight control all the way to the surprising finish.

November 15, 2011
A brilliant Parisian sleuth untangles a grisly English crime with links to a French murder. Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg (The Night's Foul Work, 2008, etc.) is in London for a law-enforcement conference, an entirely satisfying adventure, even if he's accompanied by his awkward, overexcited deputy Danglard, an underling who tries to be helpful by translating for his boss, who doesn't really need it. By happenstance, the French duo is with their British counterpart, DCI Radstock, when the British detective is approached by elderly Lord Clyde-Fox, who insists they accompany him posthaste to Highgate Cemetery. Though Radstock patronizingly describes Clyde-Fox as an "eccentric," this time the nobleman is on the mark: He's found a row of shoes with the dismembered feet still inside them. Adamsberg is naturally intrigued. Despite the intrusion of other cases, he carries his interest back to Paris. In fact, both Adamsberg and Danglard look into the checkered history of Highgate Cemetery, soon focusing on the murder of elderly former journalist Pierre Vaudel. The man reportedly had no enemies, but his will tells another story, creating suspects within the family. The reappearance of Clyde-Fox revives interest in the grisly case, which has surprising links to the Vaudel murder. Vampires, the Great War and longstanding family feuds also figure prominently. The death of a beloved cat and a personnal shakeup in the police department add background texture. Adamsberg's seventh outing bubbles entertainingly along via the chemistry of its recurring cast and the author's knack for creating colorful minor characters.

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October 15, 2011

In London for a police conference, Commissaire Adamsberg (This Night's Foul Work) and his colleague Commandant Danglard join a Scotland Yard call to Highgate Cemetery; nine pairs of shoes with severed feet inside have been discovered at its entrance. Back in Paris a few days later, Adamsberg is called to a gruesome crime scene in which the victim has been dismembered and pulverized. Could this be related to the mysterious feet in London? A connection is soon found that leads the commissaire to Serbia and a centuries-old family feud involving vampires. Along the way, the introspective and intuitive Adamsberg helps deliver kittens, receives surprising news about his past, and learns to appreciate Serbian cuisine. As with her five previous mysteries, Vargas here explores humanity's devilish side, mixing bizarre, surreal crimes and a creepy atmosphere with well-drawn, idiosyncratic characters and lots of humor. How can you resist a crime squad that keeps a stash of wine in the office? VERDICT A nice Gallic counterpart to Christopher Fowler's very English "Peculiar Crimes Unit" series, which also hints at the supernatural and stars eccentric sleuths. Readers should suspend their disbelief at Vargas's dizzying array of plot twists and coincidences and just enjoy the roller-coaster ride. Great fun!--Wilda Williams, Library Journal

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Commissaire Adamsberg of the French national police has encountered his share of peculiar cases through five novels: an apparent werewolf rampaging about in the French Alps; a deadly scavenger hunt in which immortality is the grand prize. So it should come as no surprise that vampires show their fangs in this sixth entry in Vargas' always entertaining, ever-more-popular series. It starts with nine pairs of shoes found outside Highgate Cemetery in Londoneach shoe holding a severed foot. A particularly gruesome murder follows in Paris, and Adamsberg eventually must admit that the two cases are inextricably entwined. The trail leads still farther afield, to Eastern Europe, home of the original vampire legend, and to a centuries-old family feud that makes the Hatfields and the McCoys look like kissin' cousins. As always when dealing with paranormal themes, Vargas proffers a reasonable realistic explanation while still allowing ambiguity to swirl in the wind. And, of course, Adamsberg, always an intuitive sleuth rather than a rational one, is the perfect hero for a series where reality is always a moving target.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)