Der Grosse Jäger Roman

Commandant Michel De Palma Investigation #1

by Xavier-Marie Bonnot, Tobias Scheffel (Translator)

In an underwater cavern off the coast west of Marseille are the first human engravings known to man. Among them is a crude drawing of a three-fingered hand, which has long puzzled archaeologists. Is it a hunting signal? A mystic sign invoking the spirits? Or is it, as many believe, evidence of ritual mutilation in a Shamanistic world?"The Hunter" evidently believes the latter. Driven by inhuman voices to maim and kill, he severs the body parts of his victims - and signs his savagery with a print of a three-fingered hand.Commandant Michel de Palma, of the Marseille murder squad, heads to the university in Aix-en-Provence to investigate further, but the clique of pre-history professors he encounters are as hard to unravel as the meaning of the cave-drawing itself. As he gets closer to the truth, the group of academics close ranks. Slowly and alone, de Palma begins pursuing a mystery that dates back to the Ice age.The First Fingerprint introduces a policeman as polished as he is brutal, as charming as he is deceptive. Michel de Palma, called "the Baron" by his colleagues, knows the dark underside of the city of Marseille as do none of his rivals. But his enemies are in the crime-infested sinks of the suburbs; in the sleek and squalid bars of the old quarter; even in the police ranks themselves.

Genres: Crime, France, Thriller, Mystery, Detective, Noir, Police

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Xavier-Marie Bonnot has a PhD in History and Sociology, and two Masters degrees in History and French Literature. He is the author of The First Fingerprint and The Beast of the Camargue.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

STATI DI ALTERAZIONE PROGRESSIVA



La glaciazione würmiana, durante il I e il II dryas, tra l’interstadio di Lascaux e quello di Alleröd…
L’uomo di Cro-Magnon, di Neanderthal, e l’altro tipo d’uomo dell’Europa Occidentale, di Combe-Capelle, detto anche uomo di “Brno”…
Paleolitico superiore, 18.000 a.C., mesolitico, neolitico…
Il periodo aurignaziano, perigordiano superiore, solutreano, magdaleniano, castelnoviano…
Calcare urgoniano…
Le grotte di Cornille, di Eden Roc in Vaucluse, di Le Guen, del Corail, di Agareté, di Mérou, del Deffend, di Pointe Fauconnière, di Trémies, di Devenson, di Figuier, di Sormiou, dell’Adaouste…
I siti di Carro vicino a Martigues, Lamarou, la grotta di Riaux sulla costa dell’Estaque, di Sainte-Baume, il giacimento di Bernucem…
Sciamanesimo, riti di sangue…



No, non è un trattato di paleontologia, e neppure uno studio etnologico.
Sono gli antefatti per raccontare di uno sbarellato fuori come un balcone che alla fine del secondo millennio pratica il cannibalismo per essere una belva feroce, un predatore folle, si nutre della carne e del sangue delle sue vittime per appropriarsi della loro forza.
Mentre le cronache dedicano pagine intere alla coppia di amanti assassini che uccide negli ospedali con cocktail di farmaci (lui è un anestesista, lei un’infermiera), i romanzi di questo genere (thriller? Poliziesco? Detection? Noir?) continuano ad avere al centro psicopatici schizofrenici killer seriali alquanto ripetitivi.



La bellezza è altrove: nei personaggi, nel loro spessore psicologico e umano, nell’atmosfera, nel ritmo, nella scrittura, in Marsiglia, Marsiho in occitano (un’Artemide in passamontagna pronta a vendere i suoi pesanti seni al miglior offerente, una baldracca truccata da pagliaccio col viso devastato dal sole del sud, s’impadronisce di noi come un oppio raro. Non molla più, come un’amante gelosa.)
Bonnot, documentarista di professione e storico di formazione, tratta tutto con pietas, compassione, partecipazione, empatia.
Anche il lato oscuro dell’uomo, anche la violenza, perfino la brutalità.


I dintorni di Marsiglia, i mitici calanchi, così importanti in questo romanzo, così cari a Izzo.

Debutto di Michel De Palma, detto il Barone, comandante della brigata criminale della polizia di Marsiglia, appassionato di musica, soprattutto lirica (ma ha una collezione di vinili dei Rolling Stone da invidiare).
È solo questione di tempo, De Palma li prende tutti, prima o dopo li prende tutti, trafficanti di droga, serial killer, mafiosi, prima dell’ultima pagina lui li prende.


Aix è un’ambientazione importante di questo romanzo: un ricordo della mia prima volta in questa città prediletta

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good opening entry into this series featuring Police Commandant Michel de Palma; a 3.75 rating.

The First Fingerprint is a police procedural with a serial-killer plot line that draws on the study of prehistory to help guide the story, which takes some very odd turns before getting to the big reveal. Filled with enough suspects and red herrings to make any mystery reader happy, it's a good start to the series -- intelligently written and interesting enough to make me want more of Bonnot.

Michel De Palma is approaching his 25th year on the force; he knows retirement is just around the corner, although he's not quite ready for that step yet. He's a dedicated cop, not averse to bending the rules or slamming a suspect's head on a desk until blood is drawn, even though some of his younger colleagues protest loudly against his violent methods. He is also known for getting in the faces of his superiors when he doesn't agree with their orders. Yet even criminals he's dealt with in the past know that he's "straight and a very good policeman."

A walker finds the body of prehistory lecturer Christine Autran floating in the ocean below Le Torpilleur off the Marseille coast. She had been strangled, tossed into the sea, and her neck had been broken. De Palma is put on the case, and recalls that some time earlier, another victim, Franck Luccioni, a "small-time thug," had been found in the same exact spot near an underground cave, a site of prehistoric activity, now underwater. The previous death showed no signs of violence, and was found to be the result of a diving accident. At first, he finds the coincidence odd, but when Luccioni's sister shows up with information about her brother, he begins to wonder if there might be some connection between the two cases. That's a tough enough job, but when other murder victims turn up, the stakes get even higher for De Palma and his team.

If this is just the first novel in the series, I can't wait to get to the rest. The First Fingerprint has an enigmatic mystery at its core, and in Bonnot's hands, the murder investigation is anything but dull. It wanders into the academic world and the experts in the field of prehistory. Where some writers will fill space with lengthy exposition to explain a particular subject to their readers, Bonnot's characters offer sufficient explanations that don't become sloggy or overburdened with detail. The pacing is spot on, and the conflicts between law-enforcement agencies and case jurisdiction seems realistic. The sense of place is very real as you move through the city streets or stop alongside the road with De Palma and look out at the sea, listening to the birds or the "tot-tot" of freighters. There are also a number of social concerns expressed throughout the novel, and considering that this is the first book of this series, the characters are already on their way to being well developed, at least in the context of their professional lives. Some readers might find De Palma to be a bit more unsympathetic than a cop or lead character should be, but his no-nonsense refusal to put up with crap helps make him who he is. I also find it refreshing, although I'm wary when an officer of the law feels he has to use excessive violence to get people to give him what he wants. On the flip side, I had part of it figured out a quarter way through the book -- although kudos to the author for completely throwing me off with a curveball I didn't see coming. Sometimes the story verges toward the melodramatic, but to be fair, that happens close to the ending, so it's excusable.

With plenty of suspects, several murders, a twisted and zig-zaggy line of reasoning and deduction to follow through to the end, there is more than enough in this novel to keep crime-fiction readers happy. It's intelligently written, has interesting characters and the plot is just odd enough to be different. I recommend, mainly to fans of translated crime fiction or to crime fiction readers who are looking for something well above average in their reading.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE FIRST FINGERPRINT (Pol. Proc-Michael De Palma-Marseille, France-Cont) – VG
Bonnot, Xavier-Marie (Ian Monk, translator) – 1st in series
Quercus, 2008, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 9781847243522

First sentence: For some time, there had been only a diffuse glow in the sky, a faint light whose source was presumably somewhere behind the jagged row of black rocks, high up there, far above the tiny form now hurrying along, guided by the narrow beam of a torch pointing at the ground.

Commandant Michael De Palma, of the Marseilles Murder Squad, is the best; he always gets his man. That determination comes into play with the discovery of a brutal murder and a killer who leaves behind a negative impression of a three-fingered hand. The second body found near a recently discovered underwater cave with pre-historic images, is that of Christine Autran, a professor of the pre-historic era. De Palma feels there will be more killings, all somehow linked to this period.

Because the book was written in French and translated by a Brit into English, there was some occasional awkwardness, particularly with the dialogue, but never to where I found the book difficult to read. The descriptions and sense of place were wonderfully done. Having the story set in Marseilles was a nice change, although I have read the Martin O’Brian books set there as well.

I really enjoyed the characters. Bonnot provides their history, as the story progresses, and creates wonderful interaction between them. De Palma is detective reminiscent of Rankin’s Rebus. He is nearing retirement, loves opera, but other music as well, is not an alcoholic, but his dedication to his job, which comes through in a very visceral way, may be costing him his marriage.

There is some graphic violence, but it is infrequent and offset with excellent suspense, and a hint of romance. I so enjoyed this book and hope to see the other three books in the series available soon.

[M M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had been worried that I would end up suffused with paedophiles, serial killers, killers of paedophiles, and other low-life, complete with graphic descriptions of the torture and bloodshed that ensues. Well, Xavier Marie Bonnot's The First Fingerprint certainly takes the cake. More than a novel with a linear plot, it is a bit of an episodic police procedural, drawing on multiple crimes (including those of children, beautiful (but cold) women, crooks and reformed criminals). Ever since the success of the Da Vinci Code, people have tried to write books that combine some age-old mystery with modern sickness, and Bonnot (a qualified anthropologist) goes farther back than most - all the way to the early Cro-Magnon man. Amidst academic politics (a small anthropological school in Aix gains prominence to the envy of the more established schools in Paris when Lascaux-like fine art is discovered underwater near Marseille), and police politics (murder squad has been sidelined by the gendarmerie), thuggish drug-smugglers and retired mafiosi, a killer is stalking is victims, killing them and ritually disembowelling them with stone-age weaponry. But there are some other murders as well, so are they all connected? The chief detective growls his way through the story assuring everyone that he is the best and that he always gets his man. Of course he does.

[A. B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book while stuck in a foreign airport for a very delayed flight only to realize I had already read its original French edition, which was released in the early 2000's as the first of a series of novels about the same fictional character. This was the first incursion of the cinematographer Xavier-Marie Bonnot into writing "polar" novels (short for "policier" in France) titled "La premiere empreinte," which translates as the first imprint or --for an impression [empreinte] of a part of the body-- footprint (more than a fingerprint). Since Bonnot has developed this same plot over more than one book of the series, given the English title I mistakenly thought this was a new release.

Besides usual argot, the French text is full of expressions typical from Marseille, which have made their translation into other languages difficult (or, as in this case, simply abandoned by the British translator of this edition, who lives in Paris) and losing much of their linguistic flavor, when not a bit awkward. This is enough of an issue that the initial French edition had a glossary of expressions for the non Marseillaises, which was abandoned in later books.

The main character here is Michel De Palma, aka the "Baron," an inspector of the judicial police of the Marseille region (criminal investigations in France are handled by the judicial police, always under the authority of a magistrate). Similarly to Dexter's Morse and Mankell's Wallander, De Palma is an opera lover and readers are regaled with an abundance of short opera lyrics. Bonnot paints him as a muscular man with a solid frame, though in the following book of the series ("La bête du marais" [The Beast of the Camargue]) he changes to the opposite of his short and beefy childhood friend Maistre and has a svelte physique. He is less refined than a posh-like Morse, and has less scruples than a melancholic Wallander; the image of Lino Ventura in his mid-50s playing a tough "flic" kept popping up in my mind.

The story centers on the region of Marseille, the second largest city of France, whose rather unique culture is fueled by the melting pot of many waves of immigration. About a third of its population has Italian origins and this is reflected by the surnames of some characters, including De Palma's itself, which is also that of Bonnot's grandmother. However, the focus of the novel is not so much on the city proper, but on a region some 20 miles south from it: "La calanque de Sugiton," part of the Parc National des Calanques. (A calanque is a shoreline creek, in the British-English sense of a narrow fjord-like inlet, with steep rocky walls, that extends farther inland than a cove.) This creek, next to Cape Sugiton, is the only one open to tourists during the summer and the spring and fall weekends.

The story opens and, but for a few the final pages, closes at the Le Guen's cave. This is a fictional cave inspired on La Grotte Cosquer, a paleolithic grotto in the creek de la Triperie, next to cape Morgiou. This eponymous cave was found by the diver Henry Cosquer in 1985, but reported to the Maritime Affairs District only in 1991, after the accidental death of three divers in the 574-ft long and narrow underwater access corridor (named "La Galerie") to the cave, whose entrance is ca. 120 ft under the current sea level. This grotto has dozens of Upper-Paleolithic art items from as far back as 27,000 years BP. Classified as historic monument, its only entrance was barred by blocks of concrete in 1993, which were replaced by a heavy stainless steel gate in 2015. The Le Guen's cave reappears in other books of the De Palma's series.

When a female professor of prehistory is killed in the Sugiton creek next to the Le Guen's cave, the site where several divers descending into the cave had died in separate occasions spanning several years, De Palma is called to investigate. Ritualistic, gruesome murders accompanied by the sign of a hand image in negative, with only three fingers extended, like some images in the Le Guen's cave, start occurring around the region, leading De Palma to suspect the deaths have in common some shamanistic motive. The plot is interesting but its development has an erratic course, repetitive at times, confusing at others, with a rather unconclusive end of story. There is quite an abundance of details, ranging from merely irrelevant to absolutely out-of-line in writing fiction, like the phone number with a Marseille area code in chapter 5, which at the time of writing is a listed number in the city district in which "La Capelette" (the zone where De Palma lives) is one of its six neighborhoods.

The blurb about the author claims he has a double doctorate (History and Sociology) and two masters (History and French Literature). Alas, that is *false*. What Monsieur Bonnot received was a master degree in literature [Maîtrise de lettres], and a DEA [Diplôme d'études approfondies] in history from the University of Provence. (The DEA is not a doctorate but a certificate of the French educational system that existed from 1964 to 2005, equivalent to having completed the second-year studies for a Master degree.) That Bonnot has not corrected such falsehoods after so many years is a deception. In fact, he seems complacent, if not complicit, given his silence.

[Balthazar Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The phrase "Lost in translation" comes to mind after reading this English translation of a French novel. I really felt something was not quiet right with this book, terms such as "teammates" instead of "co-workers" were distracting. Was this a translation issue or a cultural issue?

The story was captivating to start with but then it just got confusing with the police seeming to make huge jumps in logic without any backing information. So much so that it made a less enjoyable read for me. I didn't really like the characters, again this may be a cultural or translation issue. Plus there was the use of so many street names and place names that it again go so very confusing.

I didn't really enjoy this.

[Phillipa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yawn. I'll admit I'm a little tired of these standard crime novels ... there is no exciting twist. This one was particularly difficult, as I think often happens with translated books. Not because of story-line or anything, but with this one, because I couldn't tell the characters apart some of the time. I dunno if that happens to you when reading foreign names, there's just something about them that doesn't always stick in my head. Anyway, I thought this book would be a *lot* more interesting than it turned out to be ... sadly it wasn't. I wouldn't really recommend it at all.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although de Palma is an interesting enough character alone the lines of the tough and alone cop, this was a tad too nasty for my taste. It may seem odd to complain about violence when one chooses to read detective novels but I do reach a point where I don't want any more mutilated bodies. This book is full of interesting characters and a story line that keeps moving forward, but it's not in my top group of such novels.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like the translation. The dialogue was clunky, without the style that I assume was present in the original. The plot was OK, but pretty predictable. The device of prehistory was cliched in parts.

[Paola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forse un po' Fabio Montale ma per niente Izzo e soprattutto niente di più diverso dal trasognante Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, il comandante Michel De Palma ha lavorato fianco a fianco con il giudice Pierre Michel (da notare, appunto, l'omaggio nel nome), il Falcone francese che ha tentato di sgominare la cosiddetta French - le Milieu marseillais - prima di rimanerne vittima.
Ai tempi di Xavier-Marie Bonnot, però, tutto è un po' cambiato: i boss sembrano essere in pensione e il Front National riscuote grandi successi tra i poliziotti. Tranne che tra i poliziotti dei polar, beninteso!
Fatto sta che in una Marsiglia a tratti descritta molto bene, a tratti descritta con gran confusione, gli assassini seri sono i poveracci delle cités o - ancor più seri - quegli psicopatici che si trovano, più o meno identici, in ogni angolo del globo. Solo che a Marsiglia, nel 1991, è stata scoperta la Grotte Cosquer e dal 2004 la Vieille Charité - antico luogo di rifugio per poveri e indigenti e monumento nazionale sin dal 1951 - ospita un grande Museo di archeologia mediterranea, oltre a master universitari di antropologia, storia, sociologia.
Riassumendo, in questo romanzo c'è un po' di tutto: la città, tanta preistoria, un po' di antropologia, la grotta, gli studiosi, i poliziotti fascisti e quelli dei polar, i boss in pensione, i poveracci delle cités e gli psicopatici.
Talmente tanta roba che alla fine non si capisce un tubo.

L'appunto finale riguarda la traduzione, aspetto determinante. In questo caso, in negativo.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha gustado más de lo que me esperaba, pero me han sobrado explicaciones sobre el Paleolítico. El autor demuestra haberse documentado en profundidad en esta etapa, pero creo que no aporta información relevante para la resolución del caso.

En este libro nos encontramos con una novela negra que se sale de lo habitual, pues las víctimas están relacionadas con el estudio del Paleolítico y el asesino o asesina actúa siguiendo ciertos rituales que parecen guardar también relación con esta etapa. Como suele suceder en este tipo de lecturas, el libro se centra en la resolución del caso, pero también nos da la oportunidad de conocer a los investigadores, aunque no en gran medida.

El texto se divide en treinta y tres capítulos de extensión variable. La lectura no es complicada, pero a veces el autor divaga un poco y utiliza puntualmente vocabulario que se puede escapar al que utilizamos la mayor parte de los lectores. Además, he de mencionar que la edición que he leído tenía alguna errata de transcripción (pocas, pero algunas).

En definitiva, no puedo decir que haya sido una lectura que me haya dejado huella y ni siquiera que la recordaré. Está bien para entretenerte, pero, si sueles leer novela negra, esta te puede saber a poco.

[Andy Kabanoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite a translation which is a little clunky at times, the crime fiction novel does create atmosphere and hold interest. The aspect that attracted me was the central role of the fascinating Cosquer Cave near Marseilles - a place where ancient cave paintings remain despite its entrance now being 37 metres underwater. Having travelled around the calanques where this cave is situated, and knowing Marseilles a little, made the story richer for me.

[gallizio · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Il linguaggio in cui l’origine parla è essenzialmente profetico. Ciò non significa che esso predice gli avvenimenti futuri, ma che non parte da qualcosa che già c’è, né da una verità in corso, né dal solo linguaggio già detto e verificato. E’ un linguaggio che annuncia, poiché comincia. Indica l’avvenire, poiché non parla ancora, come un linguaggio futuro, e in quanto tale assume senso e valore solo innanzi a sé»

Maurice Blanchot, La Bête de Lascaux

[Leanne Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a good story line but got frustrated by English translation that was a bit off. There were also french bits in book but not translated so did not know what they were (either poems or song lyrics?) and therefore could not see relevance. Had to read to end as i dont like not finishing a book🤨

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a stand-out read, blending a truly original and tense story with the atmospheric detail of the streets of Marseille and a complex lead character. I'll definitely look out for more in this series.

[Karen Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline looked promising but I just didn’t enjoy this book - maybe due to the translation .
I chose it as trying to do an alphabeticalreading challenge and needed an X
I would give this book a generous 3 ( although may have been a did not finish if I didn’t need for the above )

[Tomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent crime story based in Marseilles. Good read if you look for an intelligent distraction.

[Giacomo Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

7-

[Filippo Bossolino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non è Izzo, però Xavier Marie Bonnot riesce nell'intento di costruire un giallo più che avvincente, ambientato fra Marsiglia e Aix En Provence. Il protagonista, il comandante Michel De Palma, si imbatte in un serial killer che fa letteralmente a pezzi le sue vittime. Un'indagine incessante e frenetica, una classica corsa contro il tempo negli ambienti dello studio della preistoria, con pericolose derive nei terreni della stregoneria, degli sciamani, del cannibalismo.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read like I was watching a great foreign film, the pace was different and darker than the norm. The characters were also more flawed somehow, off kilter. Even though I was able to predict the outcome before the end it still had a twist that I wouldn't have written, I liked that. There were some errors in the translation from French but they didn't bother me too much. Good suspense filled read.

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'inizio è un po' confuso, ripetitivo, poi, verso la metà, la trama si tende e la psicologia dei personaggi si definisce, tra paseudosciamani del tutto fuori di testa e omicidi rituali, con un detective che a volte fa più paura dello psicopatico assassino. E sullo sfondo la Marsiglia di Izzo, forse un po' più degradata, forse un po' più priva di speranza.

[Delphine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prix rompol à sa sortie, ce roman est absolument superbe

[Teryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different and interesting, but a bit inconclusive.

[Jane Massy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great crime novel, extremely well written though gruesome

[Kin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ottimo.Un poliziesco francese da non perdere.Finalmente non solo Fred Vargas da ammirare.Appassionante e interessante.