I have to say, I love Fred Vargas. She’s one of my favourite French crime writers because of how she blends history with crime and mystery so effortlessly. These books are always so addictive and ingenious and I have fond memories of seeing Pars vite et reviens tard in the cinema when I lived in France. (Another Fred Vargas bestseller which revolves around a modern plague outbreak).
This book is the first in one of her series where we meet the three “detectives”; her more famous branch probably being the other, Adamsberg series.
This series centres on three historians: one specialising in the First World War, one in prehistory, and one in the medieval period, who all end up living together in a slightly run-down house. The premise is that they’ve each more or less derailed their lives, and somehow find themselves drawn into solving strange and often dark crimes. There’s a lot of historian banter.
What makes this series particularly enjoyable is this mix of slightly scruffy, eccentric men and their competing worldviews combined with compelling murder mysteries. There’s a kind of offbeat charm to it all and I appreciate the random knowledge bombs.
In this book, the mystery begins with the sudden appearance of a tree in a garden, which then leads to a disappearance and a wider investigation involving a Greek singer who lives next door. It’s an unusual and intriguing setup that really pulls you in as things get increasingly sinister.
Overall, it’s a great, absorbing murder mystery. Vargas’s writing style is incredibly readable, I always find it easy to get swept up in these stories. There was a bit of the male gaze going on this book when it came to how the men viewed some of the women characters, but it wasn’t anything too flagrant.
Read if you want to immerse yourself into a quality crime thriller with a slight historic slant.
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