The Killing Tide

smuggling, small-town, superstitions, suspense, law-enforcement, Brittany, procedural, historical-research, cultural-exploration, translated,*****

Where to start telling why I loved this book so much? !
The police procedural is exceptionally well done with due diligence above and beyond the call. Plenty of suspense, too. Commissaire Dupin is so very real and human, in the way of Commissario Montalbano and Dr Siri Paiboun although he is not so much into fantastical things. No doubt about the merits of that part. The knife murders of three people in just over a day is monstrous.
For those of us who also geek folklore and history, this is truly a treasure trove of information. For those who live with the sea in any part of the world, there is show more beautiful descriptions of island life anywhere but especially off the coast of Brittany. And seals! I never knew that this area hosted seals! For those who go out to the sea in boats there's appreciation of the hard work and dangers. For environmentalists there is clear and horrifying descriptives of poaching and waste. And then there's the smuggling of cigarettes!
Don't forget to thank the unnamed translator.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St Martin's Press / Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you! show less

Two women are found with their throats slit: one in the fish auction hall in Douarnenez, the other in a cemetery on the island of Sein. Is there a connection? A serial killer? Once again, Dupin and his team race across the Finistere in boats and cars to solve the crimes. Along the way we get Breton legends (Tristan, King Gradlon and the lost city of Ys), lush descriptions of the countryside and the Atlantic, thunderstorms, lectures about the marine protection area of the Parc Iroise and tips on where to eat or spend a night, because these books are travel guides to Brittany as well as mysteries.
I know some of the area fairly well from my own visits (and was pleased to see a hotel mentioned where we stayed before the book was written) show more and therefore I found some of the times and distances covered unconvincing. The police investigations, as usuaI, also strike me as barely credible. 18-hour shifts are unfeasible, at least the higher-ups would have screamed blue murder because of unauthorised overtime pay. But the witnesses or suspects definitely wouldn’t put up with waiting around until 10pm to suit monsieur le commissaire. show less

Number 5 in the Commissaire Dupin series, and the best so far in my opinion. This is a book full of Suspence and tension, buried treasure and pirates and fabulous scenery and the supernatural. Dupin finds himself a little over his head in this book. He’s dealing with some top level scientists and top level shipping moguls who have no compunction about killing people to achieve their goals. There is lots of suspense and tension all backed up by the beautiful scenery everywhere in Brittany. This case pulls Dupin and his crew to the end or their ropes. Dupin wonders if he’ll ever solve this mystery. These books are so much fun with the food and wine, the awesome scenery and fussy little Dupin who seems to be a step and a half behind show more the crafty pirates and thugs who are orchestrating the mayhem in this book. Love this series. show less

It's an inconclusive whodunit murder mystery. The story is set in present day Brittany on the west coast of France. It's a rural area far from cosmopolitan Paris, the hometown of the protagonist/narrator, Commissaire Georges Dupin. The atmospheric setting overwhelms the mystery story, crowding out what is essentially a police procedural. Dupin is assisted by two inspectors. and one of them is prone to delivering rambling history lectures whenever possible. The flow of the story gets blocked by these diversions and obscures the ecological commentary about the state of the fishery, a central theme of the story. Dupin runs on caffeine from his numerous espresso fixes. More crucial is the omnipresent support of his assistant, Nolwenn, who show more is a standout character. The mystery story is squeezed into a 48-hour time frame which artificially ramps up suspense. The ending is twisty, but anti-climatic. This is the fifth of a series and can be read as a standalone, although Dupin's backstory would be missed without having read the previous books in the series. show less

This is the second book in the series I have read, and the author creates a very believable world in the coastal area of Brittany. The story is a procedural of three identical murders with no obvious suspect, but the author also weaves the food and wine culture of the area, as well as Breton folklore including sea witches and ghost ships into the story. Dupin is such a likable character, you just hang out with him, eat seafood, and watch the sunset on the beach.

A woman is found dead with her throat slashed open in the bin of fish guts at the local fish auction house. She was known to have stirred up trouble with the local fishermen by demanding sustainable fishing practices.

Then a second woman is found in the graveyard of plague victims with her throat slashed in the same manner. She was also a supporter of sustainable fishing practices and a protector of dolphins.

Recently the two had been seen together out on each other's boats and had purchased new equipment for their boats. Upon investigating Dupin discovers that all of their technology is missing.

Along with this plot, enter a man with criminal practices running a huge fishing & smuggling enterprise, who ends up being the 2nd victim's show more father.

A 3rd corpse is found on a far-off part of the area, murdered in the same manner and with a tenuous connection to the 2 women.

Again I skipped a good portion of Dupin's ruminations, but the story had an interesting turn, in that the two women were working together searching for a treasure & any number of people were watching them closely when they went out to sea together...

Sadly we never got to know the women when they were alive. show less

Also Commissaire Dupin's fifth case was very exciting. He investigates the offshore islands, where on the one hand he likes the landscape but on the other hand the stormy sea brings him great discomfort. The question comes up soon, does he have to deal with a serial killer? Which he doubted, even if many signs speak for it. Did the scientists have to die because they tested new fishing methods or found that the sea was poisoned or because they found a mythological cross? Once again, Dupin must recognize how closed the Breton island population is and therefore far from being helpful.