First of all, I do not know where this woman has learned to write: it is unreadable. Fred Vargas excruciating syntax, stylistic approximations made, heaviness and repetitions (working poor proofreading). She has the writing level of a young student. His dialogues to bleed eyes. When, in an enclosed space, 2 people to talk, there is the name of the speaker in almost every line, "Why said Adamsberg - I do not know, said Danglard - Who should know said Adamsberg -? If I knew, chained to the attention Danglard Adamsberg - That's right, answered Adamsberg "(I hardly exaggerate in my fictional exchange is an evocation of its weight).
And its characters ... Certainly, it seems that the author is known to spice up his stories with extraordinary personalities. But this is too much. She manages to lose all credibility in his account by dint of dress up absolutely all human beings personality disorder or outright mental illness: everyone is frosted, all reactions are silly, all mobiles are branques.Et the Commissioner Adamsberg is a being whose place is in therapy, not to the police (in addition to being a detestable head but it is an artistic choice that seems my little criticism in the context of assholes there are plenty offices in real life).
As for the plot, in 143 pages battled with tenacity, I discovered a mysterious procedure and matters arising therefrom. Well, that's it. I was thinking we would move a little and we would be entitled to a little surprise now and then. But no one gets bored reading trade coffee Psychology (yes, Fred Vargas is like many current authors, devoid of psychology and then that of a summer record Magazine) that serves as nothing fill pages of muddy considerations or improbable dialogues.
Well, basically, in the end I no longer wanted to know why and how, I just wanted to throw the book in the trash.
Do not rely on the reputation of the author or first lines of the book.