Death in the Truffle Wood


Book Description

Long a renowned crime writer in France, Pierre Magnan has won numerous prizes and has a huge popular following in his native country. Now, with this mouthwatering series debut, Magnan introduces the celebrated Commissaire Laviolette to U.S. readers. In a small, peaceful village in Provence, the principal source of income is the cultivation and sale of truffes. When Commissaire Laviolette arrives to investigate why several of the town's citizens are missing, it isn't long before their bodies turn up. It takes all of the detective's ingenuity to unravel crimes whose origins are as old as the truffe woods.




Reading on Location


Book Description

From the charming city of Bath, featured in Jane Austen's Persuasion, to the Amazon of Mario Vargas Llosa's La Casa Verde, this unique travel guide brings you to the places you've only read about. Whether you want to learn more about a destination or follow in the footsteps of a favorite character, Reading on Location helps you make the most of your trip.




A Climate of Fear


Book Description

From the #1 bestselling French author and four-time winner of the Crime Writers’ Association’s International Dagger Award "French crime queen's new mystery—her best yet."—The Sunday Times ("Must Reads") “Adamsberg is a terrific creation and his team of misfits a joy to watch in action.”—Peter Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Banks series A woman is found murdered in her bathtub, and the murder has been made to look like a suicide. But a strange symbol found at the crime scene leads the local police to call Commissaire Adamsberg and his team. When the symbol is found near the body of a second disguised suicide, a pattern begins to emerge: both victims were part of a disastrous expedition to Iceland over ten years ago where a group of tourists found themselves trapped on a deserted island for two weeks, surrounded by a thick, impenetrable fog rumored to be summoned by an ancient local demon. Two of them didn’t make it back alive. But how are the deaths linked to the secretive Association for the Study of the Writings of Maximilien Robespierre? And what does the mysterious symbol signify?




An Uncertain Place


Book Description

"Wry humor and offbeat plots blend with a subtly dangerous charm to make Fred Vargas the queen of French crime writers."—Martin Walker, author of the Bruno, Chief of Police Series “A wildly imaginative series.”—The New York Times From the #1 bestselling French author and four-time winner of the Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger Award. When Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, the chief of police in Paris's seventh arrondissement, is called to the scene of a ghastly and highly unusual murder, he thinks it can't have anything to do with the nine pairs of shoes and severed feet discovered outside of London's Highgate Cemetery just a few days earlier. With the help of the murdered man's gifted physician, Adamsberg delves into the victim's disturbed psyche and unexpectedly finds himself on a path that takes him deep into the haunted past of Eastern Europe, where a centuries-old horror has come to life and is claiming victims far and wide.




Death at La Fenice


Book Description

A conductor succumbs to cyanide at the famed Venice opera house, in the first mystery in the New York Times–bestselling, award-winning series. During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role. “One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever.” —The Washington Post “A brilliant writer . . . an immensely likable police detective who takes every murder to heart.” —The New York Times Book Review