A review by pinknantucket
Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas

3.0

I do like Vargas. This is the second of hers I've read and it is nice to have a series of crime novels I know I will enjoy "in my pocket", so to speak, for when one really needs a crime novel. Detective Adamsberg is back, this time investigating a possible deliberate outbreak of the Black Death. His wonderful offsider Danglard is also there, with his own brand of intellect to complement and offset Adamsberg's. One complaint would be that Adamsberg's true love, Camille, is a bit flat - especially in a book when everyone else is so well drawn. It might be because I'm reading them out of order and am missing some rounding out that was present in a previous book.

I thought I might just mention once how I've come to treat the "star rating" system here - three stars means it was a good book, worthy of your time (in my opinion). Four stars means I might have felt somewhat mentally "breathless" while reading it. Five stars means it was pretty close to a religious experience. Of course I'm not always consistent...

My copy: paperback, purchased new this year - which bookshop? I forget.