Get your copy here!

At the Central Hotel in Pont-Aven, Brittany, ninety-one-year-old manager Pierre-Louis Pennec is found murdered. Commissaire Georges Dupin and his team take on the investigation and narrow the list of suspects down to five people, including a rising political star, a longtime friend of the victim and a wealthy art historian. Further incidents – first a break-in, then another mysterious death – muddy the waters yet more. As Commissaire Dupin delves further and further into the lives of the victim and the suspects, he uncovers a web of secrecy and silence that belies the village’s idyllic image.

A summer hit in its original German, Death in Pont-Aven introduces readers to the enigmatic Commissaire Dupin, an idiosyncratic penguin lover and Parisian-born caffeine junkie whose unique methods of detection raise more than a few eyebrows. It is a book so atmospheric readers will immediately want to wander through the village’s narrow alleyways, breathe in the Atlantic air and savour Brittany’s seaside specialty dishes. Death in Pont-Aven is a spellbinding, subtle and smart crime novel, peppered with cryptic humour and surprising twists.

I picked up this audiobook from the library because I’m in a bit of a mystery binge right now. I was completely unfamiliar with the author, but why not?

For starters, I think reading the English translation might have helped me remember names/characters better. While I loved listening to the French pronunciations on audio, I sometimes got the characters confused as the narrator didn’t alter his voice much for the different characters. However, I really liked the audio because I have no French background, so I know I would have mentally butchered the names. 🙂

Overall, I really liked this because I loved Commissaire Dupin’s dry humor and that he sometimes put on his sassy pants. His interactions with colleagues (who I assume will reappear in future books) and strangers were entertaining. I especially loved that he wasn’t a genius–readers get to see him struggle to figure out what he’s missing.

Not quite a cozy mystery, but a clean read (nothing graphic). I’ll likely keep reading this series.

Rated PG.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

For more mysteries, try:

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Robert B. Parker’s Payback by Mike Lupica