Reviews

Debout les morts by Fred Vargas

la_dent_dure's review

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funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

moncoinlecture's review

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3.0

3,5
Beaucoup aimé, j'avais vu venir, j'adore les personnages des évangélistes.
Mon contexte de lecture (boulot, très lent) a fait que je n'ai pas embarqué dans l'histoire comme je l'aurais voulu. Je lirais les autres avec les évangélistes!

ch31ltt's review against another edition

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3.0

quite slow to start off. probably would have enjoyed it more if I understood more of the French.

badmc's review against another edition

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4.0

Charming! The mystery plot didn't captivate me - it was pretty banal, and the story itself dragged at times. But the characters! Stereotypical,yes, but so charming!

The word games, the warmth and details lovingly placed in the interactions won me over. Wonderful book! I'll read it once more,surely.

aditurbo's review against another edition

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4.0

Vargas has a wonderful sense of humor and great subtlety in forming her characters. They are always interesting people and well differentiated from each other. Each character is unique, but feels like a real person and not a collection of mannerisms. She has a lot of compassion and tolerance towards human diversity, character flaws and mistakes, so that even with her cynicism her novels warm your heart. The plot was original and suspenseful, and kept me turning the pages as fast as I could to find out what was really going on. The idea of the planting of the tree and the psychological tension it built in the characters was brilliant, and one I had never come across before. I'll be looking for the next book in the series to read.

frances_ab's review against another edition

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2.0

I'd heard great things about this mystery series, set in Paris, with 3 scholar housemates as detectives. I was somewhat underwhelmed by this first book in the series and I'm not sure if I'll carry on (so many books, so little time…)

octavietullier's review

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mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

xfi's review

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3.0

Curiosa historia de detectives que no quieren ser detectives. Tres perdedores comandados por un ex-policía corrupto y cínico. Tres historiadores excéntricos, fracasados, pero que se inmiscuyen en una desaparición, que se transforma en asesinato, que se....
La trama policíaca en si no aporta nada nuevo, incluso la huella de Agatha Christie se deja ver, pero la narración, ah la narración, eso es otra cosa. Por momentos poética, por momentos bruta, unos personajes que no sabes que hacer con ellos, que enervan a la vez que producen ternura, pequeñas dosis de sarcasmo.
Una novela para disfrutar con calma y unos personajes que tienen continuidad en más libros, ya transformados en los evangelistas.

amaspaces's review

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4.0

mon premier livre de Fred Vargas et sûrement pas le dernier.

writerlibrarian's review

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4.0

It was a good, somewhat quirky mystery. I did not see the twist at the end. An early Vargas (mid 1990) that is worth reading.