Death in Brittany (Commissaire Dupin series #1)/ Jean-Luc Bannalec

This was a serendipitous find on the library’s downloadable service. Commissaire Dupin is a Parisian who was shipped out to the “boonies” on the Celtic fringe of France to continue his police detective career after he apparently stepped on some toes in the capital city with his sometimes unorthodox approach. Brittany is as much of a character as any human character in this book—its landscape, its history, its culture, its language, its food.

I really liked Dupin and his constant need for quality coffee and a good entrecôte. The murder plot was captivating, taking place in Pont Aven, the artists’ colony that most famously is associated with Gauguin before he went to Tahiti. I had the feeling that I was reading a native’s view of the province, but found out later that Jean-Luc Bannalec is a pseudonym for a German author. And so popular is the series in Germany that it has even been made into a television series. I felt like it was more authentic to France than Cara Black’s Parisian mysteries, in any case! Wish there were more ready to go in English. As it is, there are only two available presently (though many more in German).

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