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Franck Guerin #4
Hard-Hearted
None of it makes any sense.
A savage attack in the city's most elegant neighbourhood. A Sorbonne professor dating a hedge fund manager. A state-backed bank conspiring to promote false arrests. A serial seductress who'll lie about everything, but not about love. A millionaire trader who sleeps in flea-ridden hotels. A woman in a haute couture dress who'd rather have an eighteenth-century book than a Cartier bracelet. A murder suspect given to speculating about his own guilt.
Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle has a dead woman on his hands, slain minutes after she walked out on her lover. And a nagging suspicion that he'll never solve the crime until he learns to read the hearts of those whose lives touched hers.
Which is a lot to ask of a man who has a hard job deciphering his own.
The fourth Franck Guerin novel from David Barrie demonstrates once more the author's mastery of noir chic.
A savage attack in the city's most elegant neighbourhood. A Sorbonne professor dating a hedge fund manager. A state-backed bank conspiring to promote false arrests. A serial seductress who'll lie about everything, but not about love. A millionaire trader who sleeps in flea-ridden hotels. A woman in a haute couture dress who'd rather have an eighteenth-century book than a Cartier bracelet. A murder suspect given to speculating about his own guilt.
Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle has a dead woman on his hands, slain minutes after she walked out on her lover. And a nagging suspicion that he'll never solve the crime until he learns to read the hearts of those whose lives touched hers.
Which is a lot to ask of a man who has a hard job deciphering his own.
The fourth Franck Guerin novel from David Barrie demonstrates once more the author's mastery of noir chic.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 29, 2012
7 people want to read
About the author
David Barrie
36 books5 followersDavid Barrie is a crime writer who has lived in Paris for over twenty years. The city looms large in his NOIR CHIC crime novels. A sense of place has always been one of the foundations of quality crime fiction. Barrie’s novels are true to the city in which they are set: stylish, sophisticated and crafted with an eye for the tiniest detail.
As for Barrie’s own take on what he does, here’s an extract from a recent interview: “Crime fiction is a genre that has never turned its back on the simple pleasures of colourful characters and compelling plots. It’s not ashamed to be entertaining, even while it’s doing its best to keep the reader on his or her toes.”
If it’s dark, alluring and has a wicked sense of style, it’s probably NOIR CHIC.
As for Barrie’s own take on what he does, here’s an extract from a recent interview: “Crime fiction is a genre that has never turned its back on the simple pleasures of colourful characters and compelling plots. It’s not ashamed to be entertaining, even while it’s doing its best to keep the reader on his or her toes.”
If it’s dark, alluring and has a wicked sense of style, it’s probably NOIR CHIC.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 6, 2012
Review from Badelynge
A beautiful woman lies in the middle of the road stabbed through the heart, an eighteenth-century book clutched in her hand and wrapped in a bloodstained hand-stitched silk shawl.
Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle is soon on the scene, making a welcome fourth outing in David Barrie's intricate Parisian and decidedly noirish detective series.
In the past the novels have been characterised by Franck having to immerse himself in a specialised aspect of Parisian society that he knows absolutely nothing about. Previously he's had to become an unlikely student in the rarefied worlds of lingerie connoisseurs, luxury perfumers and elite ballet dancers but in Hard-Hearted the author breaks the formula.Which is a good thing considering the main suspects are deeply imbedded in the world of high finance. Franck's very deliberate refusal to engage or try to decipher the mechanics of the trading machinations going on is the source of some of the more humourous exchanges. A scene where Sylvie boils it all down for him in a room wallpapered with diagrams is a standout.
In contrast the other area that Franck's investigation leads is one of academia, specifically French eighteenth-century literature and even more specifically the ancient book found in the victim's hand; The Tales of Madame de Villeneuve, Volume one. It's the first part of a story that would eventually be rehashed and made famous by another writer and renamed Beauty and the Beast. David Barrie gets lots of mileage thematically and philosophically from some of the symbolism that can be drawn from the ancient fairy tale, weaving them through his plot, the characters and even perhaps Paris itself, as Franck's investigation, in between the posh frocks and lavish soirees, takes him to the city's seamier side.
I like Franck. He's got a wry sense of humour, he's very easy to relate to and best of all he's ever present in the narrative. He's still a man without much in the way of history though, beyond his previous employment fighting eco-terrorists, so it was a bit of a shock to finally meet his father, though the youth of Franck Guerin remains heavily veiled.
With everyone scrambling to be the one who discovers the next big euro-noir these days you could do worse than give Franck Guerin a try. They also have the benefit of not being fed through the literary tea strainer of translation as they 're written in English. And they keep on getting better as the author hones his style. I look forward to the next one.
A beautiful woman lies in the middle of the road stabbed through the heart, an eighteenth-century book clutched in her hand and wrapped in a bloodstained hand-stitched silk shawl.
Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle is soon on the scene, making a welcome fourth outing in David Barrie's intricate Parisian and decidedly noirish detective series.
In the past the novels have been characterised by Franck having to immerse himself in a specialised aspect of Parisian society that he knows absolutely nothing about. Previously he's had to become an unlikely student in the rarefied worlds of lingerie connoisseurs, luxury perfumers and elite ballet dancers but in Hard-Hearted the author breaks the formula.Which is a good thing considering the main suspects are deeply imbedded in the world of high finance. Franck's very deliberate refusal to engage or try to decipher the mechanics of the trading machinations going on is the source of some of the more humourous exchanges. A scene where Sylvie boils it all down for him in a room wallpapered with diagrams is a standout.
In contrast the other area that Franck's investigation leads is one of academia, specifically French eighteenth-century literature and even more specifically the ancient book found in the victim's hand; The Tales of Madame de Villeneuve, Volume one. It's the first part of a story that would eventually be rehashed and made famous by another writer and renamed Beauty and the Beast. David Barrie gets lots of mileage thematically and philosophically from some of the symbolism that can be drawn from the ancient fairy tale, weaving them through his plot, the characters and even perhaps Paris itself, as Franck's investigation, in between the posh frocks and lavish soirees, takes him to the city's seamier side.
I like Franck. He's got a wry sense of humour, he's very easy to relate to and best of all he's ever present in the narrative. He's still a man without much in the way of history though, beyond his previous employment fighting eco-terrorists, so it was a bit of a shock to finally meet his father, though the youth of Franck Guerin remains heavily veiled.
With everyone scrambling to be the one who discovers the next big euro-noir these days you could do worse than give Franck Guerin a try. They also have the benefit of not being fed through the literary tea strainer of translation as they 're written in English. And they keep on getting better as the author hones his style. I look forward to the next one.
July 28, 2012
I enjoy these detective novels set in Paris.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews