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Enquêteur Moralès /Detective Morales #2
La mariée de corail
« Sous l'eau, elle semblait flotter. Maintenant, son vêtement lui colle à la peau comme une algue encombrante. Sous l'eau, elle aurait pu devenir du corail. On aurait fait des bijoux avec ses ossements. Mais elle a décidé de remonter vers la surface. »
Quand Joaquin Moralès est appelé à enquêter sur la disparition d'une capitaine de homardier, il hésite : son fils vient tout juste de débarquer chez lui, soûl comme un homme qui a tout perdu. Mais lorsque le corps d'Angel Roberts est retrouvé, il ne tergiverse plus, car cette femme, c'est aussi la fille de quelqu'un. La mer, dans ce roman policier poétique, évoque la filiation et fait remonter à la surface les histoires de pêcheurs, véridiques ou réinventées, de Gaspé jusqu'au parc Forillon.
Quand Joaquin Moralès est appelé à enquêter sur la disparition d'une capitaine de homardier, il hésite : son fils vient tout juste de débarquer chez lui, soûl comme un homme qui a tout perdu. Mais lorsque le corps d'Angel Roberts est retrouvé, il ne tergiverse plus, car cette femme, c'est aussi la fille de quelqu'un. La mer, dans ce roman policier poétique, évoque la filiation et fait remonter à la surface les histoires de pêcheurs, véridiques ou réinventées, de Gaspé jusqu'au parc Forillon.
392 pages, Paperback
First published June 18, 2020
113 people are currently reading
1224 people want to read
About the author
Roxanne Bouchard
16 books122 followersRoxanne Bouchard enseigne la littérature au Cégep de Joliette.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews
November 12, 2020
Peu de gens possèdent une plume aussi imagée, précise et touchante que celle de Roxanne Bouchard. C'est un polar tranquille comme l'est parfois la mer et cela le distingue de beaucoup d'oeuvres du genre. L'autrice prend le temps de laisser vivre ses personnages, nous fait respirer l'air marin de la Gaspésie. J'ai particulièrement aimé le cadre de l'histoire, ce monde de pêcheurs où les rêves sont à la fois grandioses et ordinaires. Un livre où le beau croise l'affreux.
December 25, 2021
“ The Coral Bride” radiates a lyrical aura of stillness and contemplation at its core. We are first immersed in the plot when Angel Roberts, the captain of a lobster trawler, is dragged across the deck of her boat while wearing her ten year old wedding dress. “ She draws a sharp breath as it dawns on her that someone’s trying to kill her. Yet she turns her gaze to the sky and exhales,and allows a sense of calm to wash over her....There’s nothing she can do. She knows she had this coming.”
Initially, the residents of Perce, located on Quebec’s Gaspe peninsula, think that Angel is missing and has been lost on her boat at sea.DS Joaquin Morales becomes involved in a search for Angel and the abandoned trawler is discovered.Angel’s body is subsequently found at sea chained to a weighted lobster trap.Morales must determine if her death is a suicide or something much more sinister.
Roxanne Bouchard lyrically unwinds this mystery in a work that is a paean to the beauty and power of the sea.At the same time, she examines the notions of personality development, family traits passed down through generations and loyalty.The fulcrum of this tapestry is Joaquin Morales.Having emigrated from Mexico thirty years ago, he is psychologically an outsider in his host country and physically separate from the fishing community he is investigating.Desirous of blending in to his new country, he has eradicated his Mexican accent and casts himself as a quiet observer.He busies himself reconstructing other people’s stories while suppressing his own internal voice.Circumspect in his personal relationships, he values loyalty and devotion to his profession above all else.
In order to understand the mystery of Angel’s death, Morales must delve into the tangled relationships of the fishing families living in a small tightly constricted community.Enmities, resentments and interconnected family ties of marriage and livelihood span generations.
While he is engaged in this psychological labyrinth,Morales has an unexpected visit from his son Sebastian.Sebastian’s relationship with his domestic partner is in ruins and he is emotionally adrift. He is also circumspect in his relationships and hopes to engage his father in a series of discussions that will explore his upbringing and allow him to move beyond the character traits that he finds limiting.
The novel’s exposition unfolds around the relationships of Morales and his son as well as those of the community’s families. Gradually we discern a nuanced portrait of character, misunderstood observations and tensions passed down through generations.The story is permeated with a sense of wistfulness arising from emotional opportunities passed by and roads not taken.These forces converge to reveal the solution to Angel’s death.
Roxanne Bouchard has created an absorbing portrait of family connections and limitations set within the context of the power, beauty and rhythms of the sea.The sea has a beauty alternating between turbulence and quiet.It inspires feelings of love and fear.Bouchard has juxtaposed a portrait of a natural force and social interaction that serves as a metaphor for human emotions.Beautifully done.4.5 stars
Initially, the residents of Perce, located on Quebec’s Gaspe peninsula, think that Angel is missing and has been lost on her boat at sea.DS Joaquin Morales becomes involved in a search for Angel and the abandoned trawler is discovered.Angel’s body is subsequently found at sea chained to a weighted lobster trap.Morales must determine if her death is a suicide or something much more sinister.
Roxanne Bouchard lyrically unwinds this mystery in a work that is a paean to the beauty and power of the sea.At the same time, she examines the notions of personality development, family traits passed down through generations and loyalty.The fulcrum of this tapestry is Joaquin Morales.Having emigrated from Mexico thirty years ago, he is psychologically an outsider in his host country and physically separate from the fishing community he is investigating.Desirous of blending in to his new country, he has eradicated his Mexican accent and casts himself as a quiet observer.He busies himself reconstructing other people’s stories while suppressing his own internal voice.Circumspect in his personal relationships, he values loyalty and devotion to his profession above all else.
In order to understand the mystery of Angel’s death, Morales must delve into the tangled relationships of the fishing families living in a small tightly constricted community.Enmities, resentments and interconnected family ties of marriage and livelihood span generations.
While he is engaged in this psychological labyrinth,Morales has an unexpected visit from his son Sebastian.Sebastian’s relationship with his domestic partner is in ruins and he is emotionally adrift. He is also circumspect in his relationships and hopes to engage his father in a series of discussions that will explore his upbringing and allow him to move beyond the character traits that he finds limiting.
The novel’s exposition unfolds around the relationships of Morales and his son as well as those of the community’s families. Gradually we discern a nuanced portrait of character, misunderstood observations and tensions passed down through generations.The story is permeated with a sense of wistfulness arising from emotional opportunities passed by and roads not taken.These forces converge to reveal the solution to Angel’s death.
Roxanne Bouchard has created an absorbing portrait of family connections and limitations set within the context of the power, beauty and rhythms of the sea.The sea has a beauty alternating between turbulence and quiet.It inspires feelings of love and fear.Bouchard has juxtaposed a portrait of a natural force and social interaction that serves as a metaphor for human emotions.Beautifully done.4.5 stars
May 1, 2022
Wie auch schon der erste Band dieser Reihe konnte mich die Korallenbraut sehr gut unterhalten. Der Fokus bei diesen literarischen Krimis liegt definitiv auf den Figuren und der wunderbaren kanadischen Küstenlandschaft.. Man riecht förmlich das Meer und genießt die lokale Küche gemeinsam mit den Figuren. Der Fall an sich ist nicht übermäßig spannend, dafür sehr atmosphärisch beschrieben mit einem tollen, bildhaften, die Sinne ansprechenden Schreibstil.
Ein erzählerisch sehr gelungener Kniff war es das Opfer selbst seine Minuten vor dem Tod beschreiben zu lassen immer im Wechsel mit dem Autopsiebericht… richtig gut gelungen! Wie auch schon in „der dunkle Sog des Meeres“ habe ich einige Markierungen gesetzt weil mir die Formulierungen der Autorin sooo gut gefallen haben. Mit ein wenig mehr Spannungsbogen wäre es ein 5 Sterne Krimi geworden.
Ein erzählerisch sehr gelungener Kniff war es das Opfer selbst seine Minuten vor dem Tod beschreiben zu lassen immer im Wechsel mit dem Autopsiebericht… richtig gut gelungen! Wie auch schon in „der dunkle Sog des Meeres“ habe ich einige Markierungen gesetzt weil mir die Formulierungen der Autorin sooo gut gefallen haben. Mit ein wenig mehr Spannungsbogen wäre es ein 5 Sterne Krimi geworden.
August 12, 2020
Visit the locations in the novel
This isn't just a novel, it's a song. An ode to the sea and the fishing community. You will feel as if you're at the heart of this fascinating community and its dark side...
Full review to come but it's worth saying that you should treat yourself. A good plot, great characters and a setting that steals the show. It's very unique how everyone is connected, how life works here, how people behave in these rural communities.
Great translation too -a lyrical and mesmerising reading experience
FULL REVIEW:
Plot: This isn’t just a novel, it’s a song. An ode to the sea and the fishing community. You will feel as if you’re at the heart of this fascinating community and its dark side… There’s a murder mystery, some very dark secrets to be revealed and a policeman trying to keep it all together at home as well as work…
What a lovely book. A funny thing to say about a crime novel I suppose but this book is both lyrical and criminally interesting. There’s some keen insights into the rural fishing communities, the secrets and jealousies that result, a woman working in a man’s world and more. When a female captain is reported as missing, there’s a lot more going on that you first realise.
First of all, the plot ebbs and flows with clues like the sea. We’re dripfed atmosphere, clues, character insights and criminal investigation details and then whoosh, a wave of shock, something unexpected and a new face swimming in the sea of the unknown. On top of that, the main policeman Detective Morales is back. However, this time, he’s got more than his fair share of personal problems and his family are at the heart of the trouble. The net tightens as you read and it’s a very immersive reading experience.
As for the setting and plot, they combine to make something truly magical. Clearly, the sea takes no prisoners, leaves and takes away clues, shapes your perception of the landscape. In addition, it’s at the heart of the community who depend on it. There’s lots to love here as we are truly immersed at the heart of a rural fishing community. I have no interest in fish and boats to be fair but this novel grabbed me and intrigued me with the way it mixed the setting and crime plot yet wove a captivating net with excellent characters, dark secrets and lyrical writing.
More importantly, I love the way Roxanne writes and kudos to the translator for getting this unique Quebec feel into the English. The novel builds a world that sweeps you along. In particular, the mystery of a missing female captain revealed the way women have a hard time in a man’s world. The undercurrents of resentment and historical pain, bureaucracy and more catch you in the Coral Bride. Untangle that and savour it.
Strange that I could murder fish and chips right now?
abandon
October 23, 2022DNF @5%
Après avoir semi apprécié le tome 1, j’ai voulu donner une autre chance à l’auteure et lire celui-ci. Cependant, encore une fois, les pensées de l’enquêteur sur la tenue d’un des personnage féminin m’a énormément déplu et je n’en reviens pas qu’on « objectifie » encore les femmes autant. Je comprends que l’auteure a fait le personnage ainsi, mais si je ne peux aimer le personnage principal, je ne pourrai apprécié ma lecture, alors je préfère la laisser tomber immédiatement.
Après avoir semi apprécié le tome 1, j’ai voulu donner une autre chance à l’auteure et lire celui-ci. Cependant, encore une fois, les pensées de l’enquêteur sur la tenue d’un des personnage féminin m’a énormément déplu et je n’en reviens pas qu’on « objectifie » encore les femmes autant. Je comprends que l’auteure a fait le personnage ainsi, mais si je ne peux aimer le personnage principal, je ne pourrai apprécié ma lecture, alors je préfère la laisser tomber immédiatement.
January 12, 2021
J'ai encore une fois adoré la plume de Roxanne Bouchard! Je dois toutefois avouer que j'ai préféré le tome précédent. J'ai eu davantage l'impression de voyager en Gaspésie avec les magnifiques descriptions que l'on retrouve dans Nous étions le sel de la mer.
J'espère tout de même que les enquêtes du sergent Moralès ne sont pas terminées 😁!
J'espère tout de même que les enquêtes du sergent Moralès ne sont pas terminées 😁!
March 16, 2024
Roxanne Bouchard a une plume exquise. C’est un délice de la lire, de la laisser nous broder, un mot à la fois, une histoire d’amour à la Gaspésie, la mer, les gens. Personne ne dépeint aussi bien ce coin de pays qu’elle.
J’ai adoré retrouver Joaquin dans ce deuxième tome! Et j’ai beaucoup aimé rencontrer son fils, Sébastien.
La seule chose que je déplore sont quelques longueurs (l’enquête s’étire beaucoup) et le personnage de Simone, qui m’a laissée sur ma faim (je trouve qu’elle n’évolue pas beaucoup et qu’elle est un peu unidimensionnelle), et la seule chose qui me laisse perplexe est l’amour inconditionnel de Joaquin pour une vertèbre 😂
J’ai adoré retrouver Joaquin dans ce deuxième tome! Et j’ai beaucoup aimé rencontrer son fils, Sébastien.
La seule chose que je déplore sont quelques longueurs (l’enquête s’étire beaucoup) et le personnage de Simone, qui m’a laissée sur ma faim (je trouve qu’elle n’évolue pas beaucoup et qu’elle est un peu unidimensionnelle), et la seule chose qui me laisse perplexe est l’amour inconditionnel de Joaquin pour une vertèbre 😂
February 12, 2021
Mon avis est maintenant disponible sur mon blogue : https://elilitpourlacause.wordpress.c...
February 1, 2021
2,5/5. Extrêmement déçu par ce roman. Le talent d’écriture de Roxanne Bouchard ne fait aucun doute. Elle rend parfaitement justice aux paysages de la Gaspésie et démontre une recherche minutieuse sur le métier de pêcheur. Par contre, j’ai trouvé qu’elle avait la main forte sur les métaphores par moment. Les dialogues m’ont également paru répétitif et assez peu réaliste. Enfin, où le bas blesse, c’est au niveau de la trame narrative. Un rythme terriblement lent, qui donne un roman plus près de la littérature générale que d’un roman policier. Pendant une longue partie du livre, l’enquête est quasi secondaire, les paysages, la vie personnelle de Joaquin prennent le dessus. Je ne suis pas contre cela, mais attaquant ce roman avec la présomption qu’il s’agissait d’un roman policier… j’ai été déçu.
Je suis donc envers et contre tous ici, mais j’ai trouvé qu’il s’agissait en fin de compte d’un roman correcte, mais d’un mauvais policier. J’ai aimé l’atmosphère et les lieux, mais la trame narrative et les personnages m’ont laissé de glace. Je m’attendais à beaucoup plus.
Je suis donc envers et contre tous ici, mais j’ai trouvé qu’il s’agissait en fin de compte d’un roman correcte, mais d’un mauvais policier. J’ai aimé l’atmosphère et les lieux, mais la trame narrative et les personnages m’ont laissé de glace. Je m’attendais à beaucoup plus.
July 31, 2020
Toujours aussi fan de la plume et de la poésie de Roxanne Bouchard!
Billet complet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/la-mariee-d...
Billet complet sur le blogue: http://moncoinlecture.com/la-mariee-d...
June 15, 2021
Ce livre m’a donné envie de voir la mer, de prendre le large et de manger des tacos de poisson ❤️
January 9, 2023
Meilleur que le premier, mais il y a encore quelques longueurs.
October 16, 2020
Beautifully written and atmospheric police procedural that is centred around the sea and has a truly unique style.
This is the second book of Roxanne Bouchard’s to feature Mexican DS Joaquin Moralès, a recent arrival from policing in Montreal to join the Sûreté du Québec and policing in the tight-knit fishing communities that surround the area of the Gaspé Peninsula. Not having read the first book did nothing to hinder my enjoyment with the requisite parts of the backstory covered and as DS Moralès is a newcomer into a populace where fishing is an industry the reader also benefits from the necessary explanations regarding fishing as a livelihood. The sense of place is evoked with immense skill and whilst the story is technically a police procedural it is by means fast-paced but instead an unhurried and wonderfully immersive journey.
The Coral Bride opens three months after homicide detective, DS Joaquin Moralès, has been resident in the Gaspé Peninsula with Sarah, his wife of thirty years who was the impetus behind the original desire to move, yet to follow. Before an investigation has even begun the surprise arrival of Moralès older son, thirty-year-old Sébastien, brings drama to his door with relationship issues weighing on his usually steady son. When Lieutenant Marlène Forest sends DS Moralès to Rivière-au-Renard to investigate the disappearance of a fisherwoman after her lobster trawler has been found adrift and empty her death is all but a certainty. The manner of thirty-two-year-old Angel Roberts demise is however another matter entirely and when her body is discovered all the indications are that her death is suspicious. Despite being staged to look like a suicide and some locals obviously keen to believe it, Moralès is not so easily convinced but before he can even get a handle on the case he must first understand what it means to be a female in a male-dominated world and the attention that it bought to Angel.
The somewhat eccentric colleagues that are part of Moralès makeshift team are the second hurdle he must overcome. Constable Érik Lefebvre is by his own admission a desk jockey and ill-equipped to deal with a homicide but at least he is malleable and easy-going unlike uptight and officious fisheries officer, Simone Lord, who is as prickly as a cactus. The complicated relationships which lie at the heart of Angel Roberts birth family with her father and two brothers, all of whom are involved in the fishing trade seem to hold the key to her death. Alongside this there is significant animosity between the Roberts’ and Angel’s husband, Clement Cyr, and the Cyr family, including a long-standing feud which is the cause of much bitterness. Hoping to broach the reasons behind his son’s unannounced arrival and navigate the communication barrier which has long concerned him Moralès senior invites Sèbastien to join him in Rivière-au-Renard and their own difficulties seem to echo those of the murder victim.
The pace is perfectly suited to the style of writing and the novel held my attention completely with the regularity of the sea a constant and a strong focus on the bonds between families for both DS Moralès and Angel Roberts. Understanding the cadence of the sea, the periodicity and motions of the tide plays a prominent role in the investigation and on this subject DS Moralès is relatively green, allowing Bouchard to educate the reader through Moralès and put solving the mystery potentially within their grasp. The translation by David Warriner is seamless and the magic of Bouchard’s lyrical and meandering prose is conveyed with real gravitas. The beauty of the writing calls to mind a vivid picture and alongside this the entire story is full of subtle observations about those around DS Moralès, the people in his life and the awe-inspiring power of the sea.
This is the second book of Roxanne Bouchard’s to feature Mexican DS Joaquin Moralès, a recent arrival from policing in Montreal to join the Sûreté du Québec and policing in the tight-knit fishing communities that surround the area of the Gaspé Peninsula. Not having read the first book did nothing to hinder my enjoyment with the requisite parts of the backstory covered and as DS Moralès is a newcomer into a populace where fishing is an industry the reader also benefits from the necessary explanations regarding fishing as a livelihood. The sense of place is evoked with immense skill and whilst the story is technically a police procedural it is by means fast-paced but instead an unhurried and wonderfully immersive journey.
The Coral Bride opens three months after homicide detective, DS Joaquin Moralès, has been resident in the Gaspé Peninsula with Sarah, his wife of thirty years who was the impetus behind the original desire to move, yet to follow. Before an investigation has even begun the surprise arrival of Moralès older son, thirty-year-old Sébastien, brings drama to his door with relationship issues weighing on his usually steady son. When Lieutenant Marlène Forest sends DS Moralès to Rivière-au-Renard to investigate the disappearance of a fisherwoman after her lobster trawler has been found adrift and empty her death is all but a certainty. The manner of thirty-two-year-old Angel Roberts demise is however another matter entirely and when her body is discovered all the indications are that her death is suspicious. Despite being staged to look like a suicide and some locals obviously keen to believe it, Moralès is not so easily convinced but before he can even get a handle on the case he must first understand what it means to be a female in a male-dominated world and the attention that it bought to Angel.
The somewhat eccentric colleagues that are part of Moralès makeshift team are the second hurdle he must overcome. Constable Érik Lefebvre is by his own admission a desk jockey and ill-equipped to deal with a homicide but at least he is malleable and easy-going unlike uptight and officious fisheries officer, Simone Lord, who is as prickly as a cactus. The complicated relationships which lie at the heart of Angel Roberts birth family with her father and two brothers, all of whom are involved in the fishing trade seem to hold the key to her death. Alongside this there is significant animosity between the Roberts’ and Angel’s husband, Clement Cyr, and the Cyr family, including a long-standing feud which is the cause of much bitterness. Hoping to broach the reasons behind his son’s unannounced arrival and navigate the communication barrier which has long concerned him Moralès senior invites Sèbastien to join him in Rivière-au-Renard and their own difficulties seem to echo those of the murder victim.
The pace is perfectly suited to the style of writing and the novel held my attention completely with the regularity of the sea a constant and a strong focus on the bonds between families for both DS Moralès and Angel Roberts. Understanding the cadence of the sea, the periodicity and motions of the tide plays a prominent role in the investigation and on this subject DS Moralès is relatively green, allowing Bouchard to educate the reader through Moralès and put solving the mystery potentially within their grasp. The translation by David Warriner is seamless and the magic of Bouchard’s lyrical and meandering prose is conveyed with real gravitas. The beauty of the writing calls to mind a vivid picture and alongside this the entire story is full of subtle observations about those around DS Moralès, the people in his life and the awe-inspiring power of the sea.
May 30, 2025
J’ai préféré ce deuxième tome au premier. J’ai trouvé qu’il y avait plus d’actions et j’ai été assez étonnée du coupable!⛴️
November 13, 2022
3,5 ⭐️
J’ai préféré ce tome à son précédent, parce qu’il y avait plus d’actions et le rythme était un peu plus rapide (quoique trop lent pour mes goûts personnels). La fin ne m’a pas surprise.
J’ai préféré ce tome à son précédent, parce qu’il y avait plus d’actions et le rythme était un peu plus rapide (quoique trop lent pour mes goûts personnels). La fin ne m’a pas surprise.
November 9, 2020
Finished reading: November 7th 2020
"The dead leave everything behind them. Especially the living."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
December 19, 2024
A fishermen village in Quebec, the mysterious death at sea of a woman wearing her wedding dress, family secrets and jealousies...
On paper, this book had all the ingredients to make me happy.
What a disappointment it was!
First of all, the descriptions of the landscapes, the boats, the sea, failed to transport me there. I did not feel the salty wind on my face, I did not smell the seaweeds and fish, nothing happened.
The investigation itself was tedious, slow, unstructured, as if it was led by an amateur or a rookie. The writer tries to mislead us with some clues that are so obviously not plausible. The ending was disappointing but I could have let it slide if the investigation was solid.
And my biggest problem with this book: the characters.
What's with the main character spending half his time obsessing about some woman's heel or C2 vertebra?
What's with his son's lunatic, immature behaviour, his whole story bringing nothing to the story? Was there supposed to be some deep meaning, hidden message about "the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions"? If that is the case, it was not brought up in an intelligent manner, and every chapter about the erratic son highly irritated me, and almost made me stop reading altogether.
And what about Simone (the woman with the nice C2 vertebra), complaining about mysoginy every time she is called out for being obviously wrong? And this is written by a female writer?!
Finally, the incessant reminder that "it's not easy to be a woman in a man's world" (police forces or fishing world) gets old pretty fast, especially when the writer doesn't really show why in a nuanced way. The only manner she showed it to us is by creating bitchy (sorry not sorry) female characters (the receptionist at the police station, Simone), and male characters who just say "it's not for women". No subtelty, no dimension.
In conclusion, I rolled my eyes way too many times during those 500 pages and even lost patience several times.
I am truly puzzled when I read all the positive reviews this gathered, but I don't care, because I'm right and the others are wrong.
On paper, this book had all the ingredients to make me happy.
What a disappointment it was!
First of all, the descriptions of the landscapes, the boats, the sea, failed to transport me there. I did not feel the salty wind on my face, I did not smell the seaweeds and fish, nothing happened.
The investigation itself was tedious, slow, unstructured, as if it was led by an amateur or a rookie. The writer tries to mislead us with some clues that are so obviously not plausible. The ending was disappointing but I could have let it slide if the investigation was solid.
And my biggest problem with this book: the characters.
What's with the main character spending half his time obsessing about some woman's heel or C2 vertebra?
What's with his son's lunatic, immature behaviour, his whole story bringing nothing to the story? Was there supposed to be some deep meaning, hidden message about "the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions"? If that is the case, it was not brought up in an intelligent manner, and every chapter about the erratic son highly irritated me, and almost made me stop reading altogether.
And what about Simone (the woman with the nice C2 vertebra), complaining about mysoginy every time she is called out for being obviously wrong? And this is written by a female writer?!
Finally, the incessant reminder that "it's not easy to be a woman in a man's world" (police forces or fishing world) gets old pretty fast, especially when the writer doesn't really show why in a nuanced way. The only manner she showed it to us is by creating bitchy (sorry not sorry) female characters (the receptionist at the police station, Simone), and male characters who just say "it's not for women". No subtelty, no dimension.
In conclusion, I rolled my eyes way too many times during those 500 pages and even lost patience several times.
I am truly puzzled when I read all the positive reviews this gathered, but I don't care, because I'm right and the others are wrong.
July 12, 2020
Fabuleuse enquête gaspésienne d’une auteure de mon patelin natal que je n’avais jamais lue! Très satisfaite de ma lecture, le ton est prenant et l’enquête fascinante. Excellent!
June 17, 2021
Bien heureuse de ce retour dans l’ambiance tranquille des enquêtes de Joaquin Moralès en Gaspésie! Roxanne Bouchard a une façon bien à elle de parsemer ses romans de petits détails qui nous transportent et qui font avancer l’enquête sans qu’on ne le sache. Et c’est justement le rythme lent de l’enquête qui ajoute une touche de réalisme. Moralès doit démêler les secrets et trouver la vérité, qui se fait rare dans les histoires de pêche! J’ai eu un coup de coeur pour les magnifiques descriptions poétiques des paysages maritimes (« Le soleil étend sur la mer des copeaux d’or » p. 31) et pour les délicieuses recettes de Moralès et son fils ❤️ Et en plus, Roxanne Bouchard a su éparpiller les indices pour que je soupçonne tour à tour chacun des personnages!
October 31, 2021
Quel enquête et quelle belle plume. Les romans de cette auteurs sont fabuleux. Dans celui-ci, nous retrouvons l'inspecteur Moralès dans une nouvelle intrigue au coeur de la Gaspésie. Les personnages sont attachants et nous voulons en avoir toujours plus. À lire.
June 9, 2023
2.5*
Je l’ai fini, mais j’ai failli abandonner. Comparer à la première enquête, je l’ai trouvé ennuyeuse. Des conflits de familles, bof. Moralès est pire que dans le premier, son fils est pas mieux…
C’était correct, mais l’enquêteur est problématique pis j’espère que la troisième enquête sera moins plate.
Je l’ai fini, mais j’ai failli abandonner. Comparer à la première enquête, je l’ai trouvé ennuyeuse. Des conflits de familles, bof. Moralès est pire que dans le premier, son fils est pas mieux…
C’était correct, mais l’enquêteur est problématique pis j’espère que la troisième enquête sera moins plate.
July 5, 2025
2.75⭐️ J’ai aimé le fait que l’histoire de passait près de chez nous en Gaspésie et tout les petits insides qu’on pouvait y retrouver par rapport à ça!
Par contre, j’ai trouvé l’enquête un peu longue et répétitive et j’aurais pris un peu plus de « punch ». Beaucoup de méthaphores aussi, ce qui est un peu moins mon style.
Par contre, j’ai trouvé l’enquête un peu longue et répétitive et j’aurais pris un peu plus de « punch ». Beaucoup de méthaphores aussi, ce qui est un peu moins mon style.
February 18, 2021
Roxanne Bouchard a une plume poétique imagé qui nous enveloppe. C’est la première auteure que je lis avec une trame policière et de la poésie. Parfois seulement une phrase m’amenait à me poser, respirer cet air marin, les personnages sont attachants également. Et je suis d’accord avec Dominique j’espère aussi qu’il y aura d’autres histoires avec l’inspecteur Morales!
April 4, 2024
Écouté sur Audible.
Un grand plaisir de lecture, j'aime beaucoup la plume de Roxanne Bouchard, c'est doux, tout en délicatesse.
Un grand plaisir de lecture, j'aime beaucoup la plume de Roxanne Bouchard, c'est doux, tout en délicatesse.
March 25, 2025
4.5⭐️
February 13, 2021
2,5! J'aurais vraiment aimé aimer ce livre. Mais j'ai été déçue, le rythme est trop lent. Je n'ai pas embarqué du tout dans l'intrigue :(
August 3, 2021
Solide 3.5 étoiles. Un excellent roman de vacances que je me suis enfilé en trois jours, sur le bord du quai et sur le bord du feu, avec des petits pincements de nostalgie en pensant à la Gaspésie, terre familiale au bout du monde. Tous les codes du roman policier sont respectés et campés dans un décor réaliste, mais j'ai retranché une demi étoile en raison de certains revirement de situations moyennement crédibles. La finale m'a laissée mi-figue mi-raisin, le motif me semblant incroyablement faible, mais bon. Un roman policier où aucun personnage féminin n'est victime de violence sexuelle, ni dans le présent, ni dans le passé, c'est bien, non? En tout cas, ça vaut la peine d'en parler!
November 7, 2020
The Coral Bride is set among the same close-knit fishing communities of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula as her first book featuring Detective Sergeant Joaquin Moralès, We Were the Salt of the Sea, a book I very much enjoyed. The events in The Coral Bride take place over the space of a few weeks at the end of the fishing season when the shrimp and lobster trawlers are brought ashore for the winter.
If you’ll pardon the pun, Moralès remains rather a fish out of water. He still feels like something of an outsider, not just because of his Mexican heritage or the fact that the life he imagined with his wife, Sarah, has not turned out the way he planned. It’s also that he finds it hard to adjust to the different pace and way of doing things in Gaspé, even from a policing perspective where so much depends on local knowledge.
Having been reassigned against his wishes, and for reasons he doesn’t fully understand, to what was initially a missing person case doesn’t help. Nor does being put in charge of an investigation team consisting of Erik Lefebvre, an officer who much prefers desk research to field work, and Simone Lord, a rather combative Fisheries officer. However, Moralès is conscious he will need to find a way to work with them because they possess the local and technical knowledge he lacks.
When the missing person case becomes a suspicious death, Moralès faces the knotty problem of discovering whether it was a case of murder or suicide. His investigation reveals fractures in the small community that go back decades and, like nearly everything in the Gaspé Peninsula, involve fishing and the sea.
The introduction of Moralès’ eldest son, Sebastien, a young man with his own personal problems, into the story provides a fresh perspective. Sebastien’s respect for and confidence in his father has been undermined both by the estrangement of his parents and rumours that Joaquin has been unfaithful. If true, the latter is a bit too close to home. As he confides, “All I’ve seen lately is a whole bunch of lies” and, given his own behaviour, he’s begun to doubt that loyalty is something he’s inherited from his father.
The book demonstrates once again the author’s skill at conveying the beauty and power of the sea, preserved in the translation from French by David Warriner. “Beyond the windows, the sea scattered incalculable shards of moonlight, their illusory fragments of silver shimmering on the surface as the horizon stretched into the night.” But The Coral Bride is also a tightly plotted crime mystery whose solution reveals itself in a satisfying manner.
The Coral Bride is another beautifully written, engrossing mystery from the pen of Roxanne Bouchard.
If you’ll pardon the pun, Moralès remains rather a fish out of water. He still feels like something of an outsider, not just because of his Mexican heritage or the fact that the life he imagined with his wife, Sarah, has not turned out the way he planned. It’s also that he finds it hard to adjust to the different pace and way of doing things in Gaspé, even from a policing perspective where so much depends on local knowledge.
Having been reassigned against his wishes, and for reasons he doesn’t fully understand, to what was initially a missing person case doesn’t help. Nor does being put in charge of an investigation team consisting of Erik Lefebvre, an officer who much prefers desk research to field work, and Simone Lord, a rather combative Fisheries officer. However, Moralès is conscious he will need to find a way to work with them because they possess the local and technical knowledge he lacks.
When the missing person case becomes a suspicious death, Moralès faces the knotty problem of discovering whether it was a case of murder or suicide. His investigation reveals fractures in the small community that go back decades and, like nearly everything in the Gaspé Peninsula, involve fishing and the sea.
The introduction of Moralès’ eldest son, Sebastien, a young man with his own personal problems, into the story provides a fresh perspective. Sebastien’s respect for and confidence in his father has been undermined both by the estrangement of his parents and rumours that Joaquin has been unfaithful. If true, the latter is a bit too close to home. As he confides, “All I’ve seen lately is a whole bunch of lies” and, given his own behaviour, he’s begun to doubt that loyalty is something he’s inherited from his father.
The book demonstrates once again the author’s skill at conveying the beauty and power of the sea, preserved in the translation from French by David Warriner. “Beyond the windows, the sea scattered incalculable shards of moonlight, their illusory fragments of silver shimmering on the surface as the horizon stretched into the night.” But The Coral Bride is also a tightly plotted crime mystery whose solution reveals itself in a satisfying manner.
The Coral Bride is another beautifully written, engrossing mystery from the pen of Roxanne Bouchard.
October 26, 2020
Crime thriller set on the GASPE PENINSULA, QUEBEC
The Coral Bride is Roxanne Bouchard’s second crime thriller set on the Gaspé Peninsula at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence river. I had read, and much enjoyed, the first – We Were the Salt of the Sea – and was really looking forward to the second. I was in no way disappointed.
The book is a very well thought through and well-constructed story of murder. A young female fishing boat captain is found floating in the ocean. She had taken her boat out in the middle of the night after a party to celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary. She was dressed (as she was every year on her anniversary) in her wedding dress. She ended up dead in the water. Her death was made to look like suicide. Inspector Morales investigates in the close knit community, where family feuds go back generations – and everyone is tight lipped. It is not an easy or quick task. But little by little the truth comes out.
The book is primarily a very well-constructed crime mystery, but it is a great deal more. It is a love ode from Roxanne to the sea and the people who earn their living from it. Her descriptions of the sea in all its different moods are mesmerising:
Landlubbers rattle on about the moon on the water being a glimmering silver road or a rolling carpet bejewelled with thousands of sequins. ‘They’re a bunch of romantics,’ her mother scoffed. ‘There’s no road and no silvering the reflections the moon casts on the sea. Try to touch them and they’ll slip through your fingers, you’ll see. The moon is a liar and the sea is a liar’.
The Gaspé peninsula sounds a brilliant place to visit. It takes 13 hours to drive around – but most visitors spread their trip over a week. Wild and rugged – the sea almost always in view. Hard working fishermen who earn their living in the harshest of environments. Pretty coastal villages. But more hospitable, I would guess, in summer rather than in winter.
And finally a shout out for David Warriner, the translator. The English words above describing the sea are his – quite beautifully translated (as is the whole book) from Roxanne’s original French.
Highly recommended.
The Coral Bride is Roxanne Bouchard’s second crime thriller set on the Gaspé Peninsula at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence river. I had read, and much enjoyed, the first – We Were the Salt of the Sea – and was really looking forward to the second. I was in no way disappointed.
The book is a very well thought through and well-constructed story of murder. A young female fishing boat captain is found floating in the ocean. She had taken her boat out in the middle of the night after a party to celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary. She was dressed (as she was every year on her anniversary) in her wedding dress. She ended up dead in the water. Her death was made to look like suicide. Inspector Morales investigates in the close knit community, where family feuds go back generations – and everyone is tight lipped. It is not an easy or quick task. But little by little the truth comes out.
The book is primarily a very well-constructed crime mystery, but it is a great deal more. It is a love ode from Roxanne to the sea and the people who earn their living from it. Her descriptions of the sea in all its different moods are mesmerising:
Landlubbers rattle on about the moon on the water being a glimmering silver road or a rolling carpet bejewelled with thousands of sequins. ‘They’re a bunch of romantics,’ her mother scoffed. ‘There’s no road and no silvering the reflections the moon casts on the sea. Try to touch them and they’ll slip through your fingers, you’ll see. The moon is a liar and the sea is a liar’.
The Gaspé peninsula sounds a brilliant place to visit. It takes 13 hours to drive around – but most visitors spread their trip over a week. Wild and rugged – the sea almost always in view. Hard working fishermen who earn their living in the harshest of environments. Pretty coastal villages. But more hospitable, I would guess, in summer rather than in winter.
And finally a shout out for David Warriner, the translator. The English words above describing the sea are his – quite beautifully translated (as is the whole book) from Roxanne’s original French.
Highly recommended.
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