The Chalk Circle Man: 1 (Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery) - Softcover

Vargas, Fred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143115952 ISBN 13: 9780143115953

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2009

Synopsis

"Wildly imaginative."--The New York Times

"Adamsberg is a terrific creation and his team of misfits a joy to watch in action."--Peter Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Banks series

When blue chalk circles begin to appear on the pavement in neighborhoods around Paris, Commissaire Adamsberg is alone in thinking that they are far from amusing. As he studies each new circle and the increasingly bizarre objects they contain - empty beer cans, four trombones, a pigeon's foot, a doll's head - he senses the cruelty that lies within whoever is responsible. And when a circle is discovered with decidedly less banal contents - a woman with her throat slashed - Adamsberg knows that this is just the beginning.

About this title

Review

Praise for Fred Vargas and the Commissaire Adamsberg mysteries

"Wry humor and offbeat plots blend with a subtly dangerous charm to make Fred Vargas the queen of French crime writers." --Martin Walker, author of the Bruno, Chief of Police Series

"Vargas writes with the startling imagery and absurdist wit of a latter-day Anouilh, about fey characters who live in a wonderful bohemian world that never was but should have been." --The New York Times Book Review

"Spry, ironic, yet fully engaged with the horror of contemporary reality" --Los Angeles Times

"It's a full, rich and strange plate." --Seattle Times

"[A] high degree of intelligence, sophistication and perversity informs [Vargas'] fiction...I continue to be delighted by the workings of [her] imagination. It's a tangled web she weaves, and a hard one to escape."--Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post

"Few crime stories are as apt to leave a reader wondering so ardently: Who dunnit?...Vargas' characters are like something out of a fairy tale - eternal opposites, ever-renewing archetypes despite their fresh adventures each time. That's why each novel's opening feels new." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Anyone who enjoys kooky characters and intricate detail will happily follow Vargas along." --Entertainment Weekly

"As droll and fascinating as la ville lumière itself." --Kirkus Reviews

"Adamsberg, always an intuitive sleuth rather than a rational one, is the perfect hero for a series where reality is always a moving target." --Booklist

"Vargas is, by some distance, the hottest property in contemporary crime fiction." --The Guardian (London)

Book Description

The Chalk Circle Man is the first book featuring Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, one of the most engaging characters in contemporary detective fiction.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0143115952
• ISBN 13: 9780143115953
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256