Malniveau Prison

The Twenty-Year Death #1

by Ariel S. Winter

1931 - The body found in the gutter in France led the police inspector to the dead man's beautiful daughter - and to her hot-tempered American husband.

There's never been a novel like The Twenty-Year Death: a breathtaking first novel written in the form of three separate crime novels that can be read in any order, each set in a different decade and penned in the style of different giants of the mystery genre - George Simenon, Raymond Chandler, and Jim Thompson.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Noir, Crime

250 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 8, 2014

About the author

Ariel S. Winter was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Shamus Award, and the Macavity Award for his novel The Twenty-Year Death. He is also the author of the children’s picture book One of a Kind, illustrated by David Hitch, and the blog We Too Were Children, Mr. Barrie. He lives in Baltimore.

Reviews

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually Georges Simenon is one of those authors I’m not particularly familiar with. It must be twenty years since I picked up my one and only Maigret novel. I don’t necessarily chastise myself for that, there are just so many good crime writers out there. Obviously then it’s a measure of the quality of this pastiche that it made me want to dash out to Waterstones and pick up a Georges Simenon mystery today.

A dead body is found lying on the ran-swept street of a small French country town, and from there spins the kind of sprawling, complex mystery which will baffle even the most brilliant, world-weary detective.

Actually from a mystery point of view I’m not entirely sure it makes sense. Logistically it does, for sure, but motivate-wise? Would people really do all this for the reasons stated? Still it’s beautifully atmospheric, has a well captured sense of place and time and is a fantastic page turner.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Twenty Year Death is a series of three mysteries each written in a different style.

This first book is in the style of George Simenon, and I found the writing style to be much more engaging than the actual plot. It wasn't a terrible mystery, but it didn't really have me glued to the page.
I am far more excited for the next two volumes, which are based on two of my favorites: Raymond Chandler and Jim Thompson.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read 2/3 of the trilogy now. It's remarkable. And so entertaining.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this light read greatly, a lovely little homage to Simenon

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haha, that cover, man.

Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect with this book, since I've never read anything by the author whose style Winter is trying to replicate (Georges Simenon), and since it's set in '30s France, I was worried that it was not going to work for me. I'm happy to report that the prose merrily moves along, and the setting feels perfectly appropriate, not like a foreign land.

The ending felt a LITTLE rushed, and I wasn't 100% sure of the motives involved, but that might be because I finished it while half-asleep, so engaged was I in the story that I needed to finish it.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible book and not at typical of Hard Case Crime books. I have read all of the HC books except two and enjoyed most all of them. Would have given less than one star, but not able to. This is in the style of some French (author), but it falls terribly flat. Confusing and boring.
Forced myself to read about half before I gave up.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st of the Twenty Year Death trilogy. This one written in the style of Simenon / Maigret. Inspector is called out to a boonie town in France to interview a terrible child killer at Malniveau Prison. But first, a random person is murdered on the quiet, rainy town street and left face down in the gutter. Strange! Turns out the child killer provides a lead about disappearing (murdered?) prisoners. In following this up, the detective (Maigret stand in) needs to mix it up with the town folk - including an american author (Rosenkrantz) and his charming young wife (Clothilde). One guesses we'll see more of them in the following books. I admire the author's scheme and his ambition to write it up as Simemon/Chandler/Thompson. One can't be completely at ease with the results as i found myself wincing at some of the supposedly Simenon-esque touches (obsessed with Cigars- aha!). However, i am inclined to grant leeway to this ambitious author and project.

[A.D. Stranik · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Extraordinary”, says the New York Times.
“Ordinary”, says me.
But then I am yet to read the other two in this trilogy so, perhaps, I’m jumping the gun somewhat and the NYT is referring to the work in its entirety, and not just this 'Georges Simenon' inspired opening volley.
Some weird coincidences and parallels with my own work: the idea of writing in the styles of three different writers from the periods in which they’re are set, mirrors my attempt to do something similar with my debut Monomania, Mon Amour. (Ellroy, for the 50s prologue, DeLillo, for the New York 80s, and McCarthy for the Mexican finale). And the reason I started reading Winter's trilogy is because I am now writing one myself, (a trio of novellas that cover a ten-year period) so thought I’d acclimatise myself with the concept, as much for what to avoid as for the inspiration they might give me. So, with that in mind, I get the distinct impression that I might better have appreciated Malniveau Prison's 'extraordinarieness' if I'd familiarised myself with Georges Simenon first.
Looking forward to updating my observations when I hit part two - The Falling Star.

[Andrew F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will state for the record I’ve never read of Georges Simenon’s Maigret books which inspired this. For me it worked perfectly as its own stand alone novel with a pastichy style (set in a period and locale it didn’t have to be but author wanted it to be). My minor criticisms would be tone of voice (everyone speaks as rural Englanders but with the occasional ‘Monsieur’) and that the wrap up in the last few chapters is rather low energy. Also works as a solo story if you don’t feel like following the second two books of the trilogy.

[Trey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole book overall was a 4 but the ending was a bit of a let down I guess. I was more than hooked through about 75 percent of this. The last 60 pages weren’t as good as the rest but still an interesting read. Might continue the trilogy soon or might come back to it in the future. Not sure yet.

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good job of recreating a Simenon mystery. It has been years since I read one but this brought back all I remember enjoying.

[Paul Reeve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is fine as a Simenon pastiche but pretty dry, and really reads like a setup that the author is trying to work back from. Sadly the idea behind the inciting incident is completely implausible.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Malniveau Prison takes place in a town in France, Veragent. I always pictured the town in the south of France, but Winter makes clear that you can't find the town on a map. He made it up. There's a prison near this small town and a French inspector has shown up to interview a sick, demented prisoner who is sort of like a Hannibal Lector being interviewed by Clarisse. This prisoner is surprisingly smart, sophisticated, and has very useful information. The pace of the book is deliberately set in this small out of the way town where time seems to move slowly, but somehow the book is fascinating. A body shows up when a baker comes out to the street to see why his basement is being flooded. Supposedly, inmates are being stabbed in the prison. Two young boys disappear and the townsfolk spread out looking for them. Inch by inch, the inspector dutifully puts the clues together and figures out what is going on. In the midst of it, the inspector has some difficulties with an American writer, Shem Rosenkrantz and his French wife, Clothide-ma Fleur, whose father was the man found by the baker
in the gutter. Outwardly, the story evokes the slow, tortured mysteries common before the noir era, but I found this story to be excellent.

[Gloria Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This noir novel, written in the style of classic crime writer Georges Simenon, is the first in a trilogy, originally a single novel, entitled The Twenty-Year Death. With or without that homage, it certainly stands on its own as recommended reading. (Each of the three books that make up the trilogy was published by Hard Case Crime in July of 2014, with the original comprising all three published in August of 2012.) They are set in different decades of the last century (1931, 1941 and 1951), with the 2nd and 3rd written in the style of the equally famed writers Raymond Chandler and Jim Thompson. The whole follows an American author and his much younger French wife, as well as several other well-written protagonists to greater and lesser degrees, varying with each book.

The book opens in the French village of Verargent, with the discovery of a body lying dead in the street, a local baker having come upon the corpse while walking home after work during a deluge. The investigation falls to Chief Inspector Pelleter and the local chief of police, Letreau. The novel unwinds over a period of less than a month, with the case getting more and more curious. And it begins and ends in the nearby eponymous prison, where Pelleter has been called, after a fashion, by a sadistic murderer incarcerated there for several years, Mahossier, who has in the past given him information leading to the inspector being able to close theretofore unsolved cases. Further investigation uncovers the fact that the dead man had been a prisoner at Malniveau, and had been murdered. As things proceed, there are several more dead bodies discovered, and two young boys go missing, as well as a young woman, the French wife of the American author mentioned above.

Pelleter has his work cut out for him, it would seem. He muses: “He knew what had happened in many instances, but he did not know why or how, and therefore he did not know who. He knew nothing.” Although newly written, this is a classic noir procedural, and it is recommended.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good solid murder mystery and really enjoyed. Detective driven story.
True, the backdrop is French, however the voice is American through and through, even though reviews talk about it throwing back to Georges Simenon.

Drew my attention to the publishing house, Hard Case Crime - will get more titles from them as they make my underground rides more enjoyable :)

Found in this volume one of the best quotes, even if I wouldn't have enjoyed the book this would've made it worth reading :))

"The warden spoke with the restraint of a powerful man uncertain if his power was a handicap in the situation."