This Night's Foul Work by Fred Vargas

Fred Vargas’s novel sees Paris cop, Commissaire Adamsberg, investigating a nasty serial killer with a very strange MO. It all begins when two men from the shady side of town are found murdered. The Drug Squad think the case belongs to them, but attractive police pathologist, Ariane Lagarde, is convinced the killer is a woman, and likely enough an elderly woman at that. Could this be the work of a former killer nurse, recently escaped from prison?

If that sounds bizarre, the case only gets weirder. Adamsberg encounters a group of hunters at a small town pub, disturbed by the barbarous killing of a stag, while nearby a church’s relics of St Jerome have been stolen. More peculiar crimes occur which only Adamsberg with that screw-ball intuition of his will see as linked with his double homicide.

But this story is a lot more than just an ingeniously mad-cap plot. There are all the quirky characters to enjoy, many of whom are in the Serious Crime squad itself. Recently, the team has been joined by Inspector Veyranc, with his two-tone hair and a tendency to break into Alexandrine verse. He has a score to settle with his new boss, which goes back to their childhood in the Pyrenees.

There are so many twists and turns in the story, such of lot of crazy chase scenes - one even involving the squad’s resident cat, The Snowball - as well as a mystery that is both original and logical. It all adds up to a read that will give you a whale of a time and plenty of chuckles. I would be happy if I read nothing else.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: This Night's Foul Work