Dog Will Have His Day

Dove può condurre l'ostinazione...

Romanzo della Vargas per lo più centrato sulla figura di Louis Kehlweiler, attento e meticoloso ex-investigatore che si accompagna al suo rospo Bufo e inciampa in coincidenze che si rivelano non esserlo affatto. Ciò che agli altri sfugge o non interessa, viene fermato dall'acutezza mentale di Louis, come un piccolo osso di un piede viene alla luce fermato dalla griglia ai piedi di un albero. Siamo a Parigi. Milioni di persone, milioni di storie. Da dove si inizia? Louis non si perde d'animo e con le sole congetture a tracciare una strada, pian piano gli elementi si incastrano come tessere di un mosaico. E' laborioso e lungo individuare il disegno finale che ne verrà fuori, ma tra un passato che show more ritorna, fantasmi della Grande Guerra, lotte di potere, amori ingarbugliati, il quadro si compone e il finale è amaro, come sempre, come il dolore di vite spezzate inutilmente. show less

This is the second "Three Evangelists" book, although in practice only Marc and Matthieu play any role in this one: Lucien and Vandoosler Sr. have brief walk-on parts, whilst Adamsberg is mentioned but doesn't appear. The central character is someone new: Louis (or Ludwig) Kehlweiler, a former civil servant who has been pushed into early retirement because he is too good at what he calls "déminage" (mine-clearance), i.e. finding buried scandals in the ministry. By chance he spots something suspicious among the dog-waste under a tree on a Paris street, a bone that turns out to be a phalange from a human toe. It has evidently been through a dog's digestive system, but how did it get there?

The trail leads to a village in a remote corner show more of Brittany where it rains all the time and a small band of indomitable Gauls the locals play pub games, seek answers to life's big questions from a mechanical sculpture, and sell thalassothérapie to gullible visitors. Vargas has fun with the human tendency to build sense out of things even when we know they are random, with the pleasures of getting up late, the philosophy of pinball, pool and billiards, and a lot of other apparently irrelevant things, but underneath it all there's a reasonably solid murder mystery.

Fun, and with some very nice lines here and there, but probably not one of her best. show less

Having been relieved of his investigative duties in the Ministry of Justice, Louis Kehlweiler thought he’d keep his hand in by continuing to keep track of things that seem a little off or out of place. Assisting him in keeping his records up to date is Marc Vandoosler, one of those know as the three evangelists. So when Louis finds the bone from a human toe deposited near a park bench by a dog, Louis enlists Marc’s help in identifying the animal in question as he suspects foul play. Their initial investigations lead them to Port-Nicolas, a small seaside village in Brittany, where Louis tries to unmask a potential murderer and the reason why.

As with all Fred Vargas books, it’s the characters that really make the story and this one show more proves no exception. Although this is classed as a Three Evangelists novel, only two of them are featured to any degree and neither is the central lead. But Louis is another fascinating oddball with his very own peculiarities. The mystery is the device in which we get to explore these characters and is more than adequate for the task. There’s also quite a bit of humour to keep the tone light and to keep the pace of the story move along. As always, Sian Reynolds does a great job with the translation. show less

It's always a joy to read a Vargas book, that wonderful creator of the fabulous Commissaire Adamsberg series. This book though does not feature Adamsberg, predating all but one in fact of the Adamsberg titles. Originally published back in 1996, it is the second of three in The Three Evangelists series, we await the third in translation.

This book features Parisian Louis, or Ludwig, Kehlweiler, who, having discovered a human toe bone that was deposited by a dog (!) near his regular park bench, sets about investigating its source and, as he suspects, a possible murder. This investigation takes Louis and his pet toad (!) ,which he keeps in his pocket, to a town in Brittany as he follows the trail of the offending dog and his walker. Here show more an old woman has been found dead on a beach, minus of course a toe!

The book is full of interesting and colourful characters, some you might even think eccentric, but that is what you come to expect from Vargas and it is only one of her many great strengths as a writer. There is Louis of course, a former investigator with the Ministry of Justice; old Marthé, a former prostitute; Marc, a medievalist and one of the evangelists; and then too the dog walker and collector of old typewriters. Vargas also here paints a vivid and interesting picture of a provincial town and Breton life.

This book is a wonderful crime mystery and an entertaining journey that was a delight to read and one which will surely hook you forever to the Vargas wagon. Read and enjoy. show less

Two of the three Apostles feature in this book, which is a strange tale even by Vargas's standards. Louis Kehlweiler is an ex-investigator who just can't stop investigating. He finds a human toe bone embedded in some dog excrement, realises that this is evidence of a murder so he, two of the Evangelists and Kehlweiler's own oddly assorted band of investigators start on a mission to discover where the dog which deposited the evidence came from, in the hope of tracing the victim. Possibly because of its strangeness, which feels very French to this English reader, I really enjoyed this book.

This is not an Adamsberg book and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as those. It's quite short but it is full of the usual Vargas quirky characters and communities. Two of the three evangelist characters turn up - Marc and Matthias but the story mainly centres on Louis Kehlweiler, who seems to be an ex member of the French equivalent of the FBI. Finding a human bone in a piece of dog poo leads him on a quest to find a murderer far from his base in Paris. Entertaining.

I really did find this Fred Vargas novel a most peculiar read. That was probably I have never read the first in The Three Evangelists series and kept expecting her usual sleuth, Inspector Adamsberg, to make an appearance.

The little piece of human bone that Louis Kehlweiler finds convinces him that a murder has taken place. But his contacts tell him that no murder of an elderly woman has been reported. After a week he decides the murder has not taken place in Paris but in the country. By watching the dogs that visit a particular tree in Paris, he identifies one that has come from the country and that leads him to a fishing village in Breton.

A review in The Independent called it a "bizarre tale" with "surreal touches" and it certainly is, show more but at the same time as stretching the bounds of credibility, there is something compelling about reading it.
Keihlweiler ends up not only identifying a multiple murderer, and tracking down a former lover, but also solving a puzzle related to his own family history. Throw in too an Incredible Machine that performs the role of a modern oracle, with the whole story delivered with patches of quirky humour. show less