Have Mercy on Us All (Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries (Paperback)) - Softcover

Vargas, Fred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743284011 ISBN 13: 9780743284011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005

Synopsis

The popular Parisian mystery by the international bestselling mystery writer, Fred Vargas, whom the French have hailed as the next Henning Mankell.

In a small Parisian square, the ancient tradition of the town crier continues into modern times. The self-appointed crier, Joss Le Guern, reads out the daily news, snippets of gossip, and lately, ominous messages--placed in his handmade wooden message box by an anonymous source--that warn of an imminent onset of the bubonic plague.

Concerned, Le Guern brings the puzzling notes to the bumbling but brilliant Chief Inspector Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and his straight-edged, right-hand man, Adrien Danglard. When strange signs that were historically believed to ward off the black death start to appear on the doors of several buildings, Adamsberg takes notice and suspects a connection with Le Guern's warnings. After a flea-bitten corpse with plague-like symptoms is found in one of the marked buildings, Fred Vargas's inimitable genius chief inspector is under pressure to solve the mystery and restore calm to a panicked Paris. But is it a real case of the bubonic scourge, or just a sinister trick designed to frighten as the body count grows and the culprit continues to elude the police?

Peopled with charming and eccentric Gallic characters, and packed with gripping historical detail, Have Mercy on Us All is a complex, surprising, and stylish tale from France's finest mystery writer.

About this title

Review:

"Fred Vargas knows Paris and knows her history -- she uses both to create this terrifying thriller with plague, panic, and a police detective extraordinaire."
-- Ed McBain, author of Hark!

From the Publisher:

Translated from the French by David Bellos.
Winner of the Grand Prix Litt-raire des Lectrices, 2002.
Winner of the Prix des Libraires, 2002

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0743284011
• ISBN 13: 9780743284011
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368