Discover the addictive first book in Fred Vargas s internationally acclaimed Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg series The hottest property in contemporary crime fiction Guardian Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. His methods appear unorthodox in the extreme: he doesn't search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of all this his colleagues are forced to admit that he is a born cop. When strange blue chalk circles start appearing overnight on the pavements of Paris, only Adamsberg takes them - and the increasingly bizarre objects found within them - seriously. And when the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut is found in one, only Adamsberg realises that other murders will soon follow Rich and witty' Independent**Winner of The CWA Duncan Lawrie International Dagger**
'The hottest property in contemporary crime fiction' Guardian
'Vargas is a sharply honed writer and this is a strange and thrilling book' Metro
'Cunningly constructed... Vargas is everything Grisham is not: witty, intriguing, disconcerting and being French, seductively romantic' Sunday Telegraph
Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. He doesn't search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of this his colleagues are forced to admit that he is a born cop.
When strange blue chalk circles start appearing on the pavements of Paris, only Adamsberg takes them, and the increasingly bizarre objects found within them seriously. And when the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut is found in one, only Adamesberg realises that other murders will soon follow...
'Rich and witty' Independent
'The novel shows Vargas in riveting form right from the start of her writing career' The Times
