#1 - The Chalk Circle Man
Winner of The Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie International Dagger
Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. His methods appear unorthodox in the extreme: he doesn't search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of all this his colleagues are forced to admit that he is a born cop.
When strange blue chalk circles start appearing overnight on the pavements of Paris, only Adamsberg takes them - and the increasingly bizarre objects found within them - seriously. And when the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut is found in one, only Adamsberg realises that other murders will soon follow…
‘The hottest property in contemporary crime fiction’ Guardian
Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. His methods appear unorthodox in the extreme: he doesn't search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of all this his colleagues are forced to admit that he is a born cop.
When strange blue chalk circles start appearing overnight on the pavements of Paris, only Adamsberg takes them - and the increasingly bizarre objects found within them - seriously. And when the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut is found in one, only Adamsberg realises that other murders will soon follow…
‘The hottest property in contemporary crime fiction’ Guardian
#2 - Seeking Whom He May Devour
In this frightening and surprising novel, the eccentric, wayward genius of Commissaire Adamsberg is pitted against the deep-rooted mysteries of one Alpine village's history and a very present problem: wolves.
Disturbing things have been happening up in the French mountains; more and more sheep are being found with their throats torn out. The evidence points to a wolf of unnatural size and strength. However Suzanne Rosselin thinks it is the work of a werewolf. Then Suzanne is found slaughtered in the same manner. Her friend Camille attempts, with Suzanne's son Soliman and her shepherd, Watchee, to find out who, or what, is responsible and they call on Commissaire Adamsberg for help.
'Ingenious. Slick, creepy and full of engaging odd characters, this thriller is a class act' Independent
Disturbing things have been happening up in the French mountains; more and more sheep are being found with their throats torn out. The evidence points to a wolf of unnatural size and strength. However Suzanne Rosselin thinks it is the work of a werewolf. Then Suzanne is found slaughtered in the same manner. Her friend Camille attempts, with Suzanne's son Soliman and her shepherd, Watchee, to find out who, or what, is responsible and they call on Commissaire Adamsberg for help.
'Ingenious. Slick, creepy and full of engaging odd characters, this thriller is a class act' Independent
#3 - Have Mercy on Us All
Three times a day in a Parisian square, a curious modern-day crier announces the news items that are left in his box. Over the course of a few days he receives a number of disturbing and portentous messages of malicious intent, all of them referring to the Black Death. Strange marks have also appeared on the doors of several buildings: symbols once used to ward off the plague. Detective Commissaire Adamsberg begins to sense a connection, even a grotesque menace. Then charged and flea-bitten corpses are found. The press seizes on their plague-like symptoms, and the panic sets in.
#4 - Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand
Between 1943 and 2003 nine people have been stabbed to death with a most unusual weapon: a trident. In each case, arrests were made, suspects confessed their crimes and were sentenced to life in prison. One slightly worrying detail: each presumed murderer lost consciousness during the night of the crime and has no recollection of it.
Commissaire Adamsberg is convinced all the murders are the work of one person, the terrifying Judge Fulgence. Years before, Adamsberg's own brother had been the principal suspect in a similar case and avoided prison only thanks to Adamsberg's help.
History repeats itself when Adamsberg, who is temporarily based in Quebec for a training mission, is accused of having savagely murdered a young woman he had met. In order to prove his innocence, Adamsberg must go on the run from the Canadian police and find Judge Fulgence.
Winner of the 2007 Duncan Lawrie International Dagger for The Three Evangelists.
Commissaire Adamsberg is convinced all the murders are the work of one person, the terrifying Judge Fulgence. Years before, Adamsberg's own brother had been the principal suspect in a similar case and avoided prison only thanks to Adamsberg's help.
History repeats itself when Adamsberg, who is temporarily based in Quebec for a training mission, is accused of having savagely murdered a young woman he had met. In order to prove his innocence, Adamsberg must go on the run from the Canadian police and find Judge Fulgence.
Winner of the 2007 Duncan Lawrie International Dagger for The Three Evangelists.
#5 - This Night's Foul Work
On the outskirts of Paris, two men have been found with their throats cut. In Normandy, two stags have been killed and their hearts cut out. Meanwhile a seventy-five-year-old nurse who has murdered several of her patients has escaped from prison. Is there a connection between the three cases?
In this mystery, Commissaire Adamsberg is pitted against nemeses past and present: Ariane Lagarde, France's foremost pathologist and Adamsberg's enemy since they argued over a case twenty-three years earlier, and Louis Veyrenc, a new recruit with a grudge, who has been assigned the job of protecting the Commissaire's ex-girlfriend. As the different strands of Vargas's compelling story begin to intertwine, events move towards a gripping climax...
Shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie International Dagger.
In this mystery, Commissaire Adamsberg is pitted against nemeses past and present: Ariane Lagarde, France's foremost pathologist and Adamsberg's enemy since they argued over a case twenty-three years earlier, and Louis Veyrenc, a new recruit with a grudge, who has been assigned the job of protecting the Commissaire's ex-girlfriend. As the different strands of Vargas's compelling story begin to intertwine, events move towards a gripping climax...
Shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie International Dagger.
#6 - An Uncertain Place
Three-times winner of the CWA International Dagger for Crime Fiction
Commissaire Adamsberg has left Paris for a police conference in London, accompanied by anglophile Commandant Danglard and Estalere, a young sergeant. The city offers a welcome change of scenery until a gruesome discovery is made - just outside the gates of Highgate Cemetery a pile of shoes, all containing severed feet, is found.
Returning to Paris, the three men are then confronted with the violent killing and dismemberment of a wealthy, elderly man. Both the dead man's son and gardener have motives for murder, but soon another candidate for the killing emerges. As Adamsberg investigates the links between these two unsettling crimes, he puts himself at terrible risk.
Commissaire Adamsberg has left Paris for a police conference in London, accompanied by anglophile Commandant Danglard and Estalere, a young sergeant. The city offers a welcome change of scenery until a gruesome discovery is made - just outside the gates of Highgate Cemetery a pile of shoes, all containing severed feet, is found.
Returning to Paris, the three men are then confronted with the violent killing and dismemberment of a wealthy, elderly man. Both the dead man's son and gardener have motives for murder, but soon another candidate for the killing emerges. As Adamsberg investigates the links between these two unsettling crimes, he puts himself at terrible risk.
#7 - The Ghost Riders of Ordebec
‘People will die,’ says the panic-stricken woman outside police headquarters.
She refuses to speak to anyone besides Commissaire Adamsberg. Her daughter has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. Since the middle ages there have been stories of murderers, rapists, those with serious crimes on their conscience, meeting a grisly end following a visitation by the riders.
Soon after the young woman’s vision a notoriously vicious and cruel man disappears. Although the case is far outside his jurisdiction, Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds.
She refuses to speak to anyone besides Commissaire Adamsberg. Her daughter has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. Since the middle ages there have been stories of murderers, rapists, those with serious crimes on their conscience, meeting a grisly end following a visitation by the riders.
Soon after the young woman’s vision a notoriously vicious and cruel man disappears. Although the case is far outside his jurisdiction, Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds.
#8 - A Climate of Fear
*Featured in The Times top ten crime novels of the decade*
THE NEW INSPECTOR ADAMSBERG NOVEL
Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2017
A woman is found dead in her bath. The murder has been disguised as a suicide and a strange symbol is discovered at the scene.
Then the symbol is observed near a second victim, who ten years earlier had also taken part in a doomed expedition to Iceland.
How are these deaths, and rumours of an Icelandic demon, linked to a secretive local society? And what does the mysterious sign mean? Commissaire Adamsberg is about to find out.
THE NEW INSPECTOR ADAMSBERG NOVEL
Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2017
A woman is found dead in her bath. The murder has been disguised as a suicide and a strange symbol is discovered at the scene.
Then the symbol is observed near a second victim, who ten years earlier had also taken part in a doomed expedition to Iceland.
How are these deaths, and rumours of an Icelandic demon, linked to a secretive local society? And what does the mysterious sign mean? Commissaire Adamsberg is about to find out.
#9 - This Poison Will Remain
** Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month **
The exhilarating new Inspector Adamsberg novel from France's multi-million-copy bestselling crime fiction star
**A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**
'Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives... I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain' ANN CLEEVES
After three elderly men are bitten by spiders, everyone assumes that their deaths are tragic accidents.
But at police headquarters in Paris, Inspector Adamsberg begins to suspect that the case is far more complex than first appears.
It isn't long before Adamsberg is investigating a series of rumours and allegations that take him to the south of France. Decades ago, at La Miséricorde orphanage, shocking events took place involving the same species of spider: the recluse.
For Adamsberg, these haunting crimes hold the key to proving that the three men were targeted by an ingenious serial killer. His team, however, is not convinced. He must put his reputation on the line to trace the murderer before the death toll rises...
_____
PRAISE FOR THIS POISON WILL REMAIN:
'Absorbing... Full of twists and spiced with Vargas's characteristic wit and style' PETER ROBINSON
'Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world' INDEPENDENT
'Vargas's books are...cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries' A.J. FINN
The exhilarating new Inspector Adamsberg novel from France's multi-million-copy bestselling crime fiction star
**A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**
'Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives... I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain' ANN CLEEVES
After three elderly men are bitten by spiders, everyone assumes that their deaths are tragic accidents.
But at police headquarters in Paris, Inspector Adamsberg begins to suspect that the case is far more complex than first appears.
It isn't long before Adamsberg is investigating a series of rumours and allegations that take him to the south of France. Decades ago, at La Miséricorde orphanage, shocking events took place involving the same species of spider: the recluse.
For Adamsberg, these haunting crimes hold the key to proving that the three men were targeted by an ingenious serial killer. His team, however, is not convinced. He must put his reputation on the line to trace the murderer before the death toll rises...
_____
PRAISE FOR THIS POISON WILL REMAIN:
'Absorbing... Full of twists and spiced with Vargas's characteristic wit and style' PETER ROBINSON
'Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world' INDEPENDENT
'Vargas's books are...cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries' A.J. FINN