The Messengers of Death by Pierre Magnan

First Line: On the gate of the cemetery at Barles, there's a postbox.

It is a Sunday when ex-postman Émile Pencenat decides to stop digging his own grave for the day and notices that a letter has blown out of the bottomless, purely ornamental postbox. His sense of duty forbids him to ignore the letter, so he walks into the village, buys a stamp, and posts it. Within just a few days, the recipient of the letter is found murdered. The police are baffled, and Commissaire Laviolette is persuaded to come out of retirement long enough to solve the case. As Laviolette is soon to learn, this is only the beginning of the deadly correspondence.

Originally published in French in 1986, The Messengers of Death tells the tale of a series of crimes that occur in the 1960s. Pierre Magnan skillfully takes readers back to what seems a quaint and simpler time in the countryside of southeastern France.

Over his long career, Commissaire Laviolette has learned a great deal about the habits of people who live in small villages. He's an observant, intuitive sort of policeman who knows that the postmistress undoubtedly reads the mail that comes in and out, and he also believes that the reason for these crimes lies in the past. When one needs stored memories, where better to go than the local old people's home? His interactions with all the townspeople allows Magnan to show their foibles to perfection.

Another area in which the author excels is in using the setting and the weather to affect the mood and to create tension and suspense. In more than one scene, the killer is moving through the rooms in the victim's home, and Magnan had the hair standing on the back of my neck. (If I'd been reading late at night, I would have jumped a mile if a floorboard had creaked.)

I know that some readers worry about translated books, but I had no problems with it at all. I slid easily into the story and quickly became so intrigued that I had to know how it ended. At times throughout the book, I had to smile. Each woman's appearance and sex appeal are speculated upon in a manner that did not offend me in the slightest but made me wonder if Magnan had been a bit of a ladies' man. This book is not only an enjoyable mystery, it also oozes French charm and wit. Do I recommend Pierre Magnan's books? Bien sûr!

The Messengers of Death by Pierre Magnan

Translated from the French by Patricia Clancy

ISBN: 9780312387570

Minotaur Books © 2009

Paperback, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #6 Commissaire Laviolette mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen 

Death in the Truffle Wood by Pierre Magnan

Title: Death in the Truffle Wood
Author: Pierre Magnan
Translated from the French: Patricia Clancy
ISBN: 9780312367190, Thomas Dunne Books, 2005
Original Publication Date: 1978
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Commissaire Laviolette mystery
Rating: B+

First Line: "Come on Roseline!"

Five young people have disappeared in the vicinity of Banon in Provence. When Commissaire Laviolette comes to investigate, villager Alyre Morelon immediately demands that the police officer looks into a recent incident when someone tried to kill his Roseline, the best truffle-sniffing pig in the entire area.

Laviolette has been sent to Banon because there's nothing remarkable about his appearance and he can blend in anywhere. Well... that's what he tells people. What he's not telling anyone is that his unremarkable visage hides a very observant and intelligent man. When Laviolette obliges Morelon and looks into the incident concerning the pig, he stumbles across something that ties right into the missing persons case he is investigating.

Originally published in 1978, some of you young whippersnappers who read Death in the Truffle Wood may miss your computers and cell phones, but this old fogey found their absence refreshing. (It is nice to remember the "good old days" once in a while when detecting didn't seem to rely on gizmos.) Magnan's sense of pacing is sure, and his characterizations show flashes of brilliance. The various plot lines of injured pig, missing young people, heirs to fortunes and philandering spouses were woven together into an intriguing mystery.

As much as I enjoyed the mystery, it was Magnan's humor and his depiction of the culture of Provence and its people that really won me over. The "forensic lads from Criminal Records" who loved to race between Marseilles and Banon, the relationship between Roseline and her owner Alyre, the description of a local wedding and the behavior of the guests... these are only three instances that made me laugh and made me feel as though I was getting a feel for the real Provence.

Combine all that with a very ordinary-looking and extraordinarily observant policeman, and I find myself with a new and delightful mystery series to continue reading. C'est magnifique!

[Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.]