An Uncertain Place
By Fred Vargas
I believe this is the latest Adamsberg book (or at least the
most recent translation). The Chalk Circle Man surprised and
enthralled me; An Uncertain Place was
a staggeringly good book. But I fear I
can say almost nothing about the book that would not unravel the carefully
conceived and mysterious plot. Let me
say merely that I was looking for a mystery/thriller that would give me an
atmospheric and authentic take on contemporary Paris. This book did not really do this; we spent
more time in suburban locales, in Highgate Cemetery, and in Eastern European
climes (and in Adamsberg’s garden with a kitten named Charm). Nevertheless, this matters not a jot, as the
clever, hilarious, taut narrative wove its spell. Vargas’ characters are so utterly real, you
do not want the books to end as you want to keep following the inner thoughts
of people like Adamsberg (even if you wouldn’t want to know them in real
life). Plog!
For the brave . . .
SPOILERS
The delightful and utterly mad “secret”—that vampirism was
at the heart of the killings—rocked my world.
Yet I couldn’t help a nagging suspicion that if Highgate really was
haunted by an “entity” who was a Melmoth the Wanderer-type vampire, I would
have heard about it by now.
Disappointingly (or perhaps not!) Vargas seems to have taken a few
deluded attention seekers’ reports from the 1970s and made them into the fabric
of truth, to the point that Danglard and Radstock can create a convincing
mythos from them. Okay, and do you know
what I did when Charm the kitten was revealed not to be killed by the
murderer? I squee’d with delight, that’s
what!
/END SPOILERS
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