Two third boring, one third interesting. I've read only five books of Fred Vargas, and this definitely rates n. 5.
It all starts at Saint-Victor, a village made of farmers, sheep and mountains. At night sheep are being killed by a big wolf, apparently; one night Suzanne Rosselin is killed in the same way. A strong and peculiar woman, and Camille loved her. Her boyfriend-of-the-moment Lawrence, a Canadian here to work with the wolves, tells her that Suzanne had talked of a werewolf, he tells her that anyway there must be a man behind it, and he points to Massart, a local man, a loner, but they can't find him.
Suzanne was very much loved by her old sheperd (called 'Il Guarda' in Italian) and by Soliman Diawara, a young black man abandoned at the local church crying when he was a baby, until Suzanne took him with her and since nobody ever claimed him back he grew up as her son.
They want to track him down, Massart, the werewolf, and they ask for Camille's help, because she can drive and she loved Suzanne. She accepts and they leave, but after a few days they realize it is more difficult than they thought, that they don't really know how to find him now, and they would need some help, a policeman to give them the right information, and Camille knows a good one, but hesitates to call him.
Adamsberg is closing a case and also hiding from a girl that wants to kill him because he 'accidently' shot dead a guy she cared about. When Danglard receives a call from a girl asking where Adamsberg is , he believes it a trick of Sabrina Monge, but when he asks for her name and she says Camille Forestier, Danglard remembers Mathilde and tells her where to find him. She goes to him, asks for his help, and of course he goes with her. More sheep are killed, and also three men. Adamsberg has all the different 'gendarmerie' to work on this, and when his name appears on the papers Sabrina finds him and almost gets him, but warned in time he gets shot only in the arm. Going on in his investigation, he is sure the killings are not random but specific targets. He learns of the old story of a man, John Padwell, 18 years in prison after killing a man, Simon Hellouin, his wife's lover, in front of his son Stuart. The last victim of the 'wolf' was Paul Hellouin, the brother, and all three had been lovers of his wife, after the imprisonment. John died but his son Stuart was brought up with his mission of revenge. It's Lawrence and he almost kills Adamsberg but for Soliman's help. At the end, Camille goes back to Saint-Victor with her two friends, and he goes back to Paris.
It became interesting only when Adamsberg joined them in their road-trip; before it was a bit boring. If I remember right this happens five years after that time they 'met' on the train and had two hours together. What surprised me is that at the beginning, thinking of her, he states that he left her... this is news to me, it always seemed like it was her always going away, running away from a relationship too difficult. What is this story that he left her? Why on Earth did he do that? It's kind of absurd, makes no sense, since he's always complaining about the fact that she keeps running away.. well not exactly complaining maybe, anyway it was nice to see them together, and to see him in action, even with a gun! Slow Adamsberg!
ITA: L'uomo a rovescio
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento