[Fbone]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Interesting .... I am entranced by Vargas' books - IMHO her strength lies in the quirky characters she creates - and allows to muse aloud on the page - much like Louise Penny, the emphasis is on the effects of murder on both the community AND the murder squad, rather than solving a who-done-it. Vargas fleshes out her characters in each installment, so that reading her books in order offer a revelation of character, rather than a police procedural. Vargas also creates some of the most unique murder methods/situations you'll find in recent mystery novels.

Her characters were different and the best part of the book.

It make sense as I didn't care for Louise Penny either although I enjoyed her writing skill more but that could be due to no translating. Sometimes things are lost in them.

Spoiler:

I didn't like the behavior of the police. The Chief goes for day long walks while on duty. The Inspector gets drunk regularly. It was obvious that the elderly professor was the killer. And I thought it unbelievable that he could impersonate a woman for two months. You'd have to wear a lot of make-up to hide 5 o'clock shadow. And Clemence was helping Mathilde with filing but didn't he work. And where and when did he sleep? Too much of a stretch for me.