jolly fellows from concarneau

Commissaire Georges Dupin thought that he was going to have a relaxing Pentecost weekend. He and several of his coworkers had been driven out of their offices while work was being done on the building. Between the noise and the smell of paint, they couldn’t take it anymore and went their own ways. He was off enjoying the view and picking up some smoked fish for his future in-laws’ visit that weekend.

And then he got the call.

There was a death. A respected doctor in Concarneau had been thrown from his home, several stories up. Suddenly, Dupin had to investigate a murder practically in his own backyard, and with his best deputies off on vacations. The doctor’s wife had found him when she got back from some errands, and Dupin finds out from her that the doctor had his hands in several investments in town, with his friends, a pharmacist named Priziac and a wine merchant named Luzel. They had invested in a local brewery, an artisan cannery of local fish, and the harbor.

Dupin tries to put the pieces together, but he struggles to make sense of why the doctor would be murdered. Investigating so close to home is easier in some ways, as he knows so much about the people and the community already. But it’s also more challenging, since the evil is now so close to his heart.

But when there is an attack at the harbor that sends four men to the hospital, Dupin knows that the evil is bigger than he first imagined. This isn’t an isolated incident. Others are in danger, and Dupin has to figure out who and why before anyone else gets hurt. He thinks it must have something to do with the three men and their investments. The doctor, the pharmacist, the wine merchant. Is someone jealous of their success? Trying to split up their business interests? Simply wanting to sabotage them?

Dupin is scrambling to make sense of the facts before him, conducting interviews and gathering facts, when there is another attack. Since it’s another of the three investors, Dupin is convinced that there is something sinister going on with the three men. But does that mean that the last man standing is the villain, or is he the next target of a killer?

The Body by the Sea is the eighth book in Jean-Luc Bannalec’s mystery series set in Brittany, France. In this novel, Commissaire Dupin is investigating in his hometown, so as he’s walking around, gathering information, he’s also eating at his favorite restaurants and walking along his favorite beaches, and his love of Brittany flows through each moment.

I love mysteries with a strong sense of place, and The Body by the Sea has that with such strong flavor that my mouth is watering with some of the descriptions of the food and places. This one felt really personal, with the celebration of so many great Breton individuals, inventions, and creations, and special consideration of writer Georges Simenon and his Inspector Maigret mystery novels. I liked the plotting in this one, as it kept me guessing until the end. But it was the sense of place and love of Brittany that made me fall in love with this story. Be prepared to start planning your own trip to France when you read this one!

Egalleys for The Body by the Sea were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.