Deadly Tides at Mont-Saint-Michel

by Christophe Villain, Terry Laster (Translator)

A dead woman loved by all.Instead of spending a pleasant day with Léon on the coast and at Le Mont-Saint-Michel, Sandrine Perrot is called to a fatal accident in the Saint-Malo marina. The driver's death touches her personally, as she had just met the woman. In the course of the forensic investigation, she discovers that there is more to the alleged accident than she first suspected.
Her investigation leads her into the world of a well-known family in Le Mont-Saint-Michel, a family marked by antiquated traditions but also by conflicts between siblings.
Another person soon disappears without a trace. Was he trying to evade interrogation, or was an unwelcome witness being silenced?

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 8, 2024

Reviews

[Katy Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like this series, but I have an ongoing frustration with the translations. The translator for the first book was absolutely awful, and presumably feedback from readers caused the author to choose someone else for subsequent books in the series. Unfortunately this one translates not into English, but into American, and it feels like they have never been to France.

Issues I have:

If there's a big, long sentence, the translator seems to give up, which can lead to absolute nonsense - for example when Sandrine is thinking about telling her arrestee what the solicitor did to her previous client, the translator missed the key part of the sentence, ie the specific thing she did!

There's a number of things that the translator is adding in or making up off their own bat, for example:

Badoit water - this would 100% only have been Badoit in the original. It's a brand of water, that's like saying Coca Cola Coke.

French bocce - what fresh hell is this? There are a number of games played in Europe where a wee ball is thrown and players then take it in turns to throw bigger balls towards the wee one. Boules or Pétanque are played in France (the name varies by region), Bowls in the UK and Bocce in Italy. They're not the same game. The balls are different sizes across all 3 games. There is no such thing as French bocce, and the Frenchman who wrote this would never have referred to it as such.

I have no idea why the measurements both for distance and temperature have been turned into imperial.

Next we have things that the translator clearly doesn't understand and has lost the plot - a mount and a mountain are 2 different things in both English and French, and Mont Saint Michel is not a mountain by any stretch of the imagination.

And finally, if you're going to all the trouble of having the proper French names for locations, then that stretch of water between Brittany/Normandy and the south coast of England is La Manche. The French would never call it the English Channel (guess who does...) They don't even call that railway line beneath the water the Channel Tunnel, it's the Tunnel sur La Manche.

All that said, I did like the story, so 4 stars for the story, 2 for the translation, averaging out to 3.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another gripping read. I enjoy the way officers with integrity recognise and support each other across jurisdictions and get the job done. I also appreciate the understanding of motivations of loyalty and how these overcome scruples. I am frustrated by the continuing sub-plot of an institutional grudge against Sandrine, especially in this one where the scene is set for a showdown in the next episode. I’m hoping it will be dealt and dispensed with in the next in the series.

[Michelle Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved all the goings-on on Mont St Michel. Obviously meant to be for an American public, since the weather is given in Fahrenheit, but all very French. One is let in on the differences of being Breton, Normand or even Malouin. All good.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discovered this series in the last couple of months. I've only read two of them so far but enjoyed both enormously. Highly recommended.

Sandrine Perrot is a disgraced Parisienne cop sent to Brittany (i.e. New Yorker sent to Alaska). But murders happen, butt must be kicked and clues solved.

[Charles Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyed all three books

I have read the three books and I really enjoyed them. The characters are great the location is marvelous. Recommend

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

All I can say is Christophe Villain has written better books. I found this one a bit hard going.

[Sreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting about Mont Saint michel.