Sans feu ni lieu - Fred Vargas

Marthe, the 70 year old former prostitute, was introduced in passing in Vargas's previous 'Three Evangelists' book Un peu plus loin sur la droite, but she is such a figure with a long background hinted at that it is no surprise that she reappears in Sans feu ni lieu (The Accordianist in English translation). It's more of a surprise that Louis Kehlweiler has a key role again, as it seemed his work and larger purpose had been achieved in the previous book. Both figures however were clearly too good to let go, particularly when Vargas can make so much more of them before she moves on to Adamsberg and other things.

For Louis, the long years of examining reports in newspapers and looking for clues means that he can't easily avoid looking into the latest crime that currently has everyone's attention in Paris; the shocking murder of two young women. Marthe, one of Louis' old observation team, is now a bouquiniste, running a book stall on the banks of the Seine, when she is approached by a young man she used to know. She is shocked to recognise Clément, a young man with learning difficulties that she taught to read as a child, who has come looking for her for help. He has found himself connected to and implicated in the two terrible murder cases that everyone is talking about.

Someone has called Clément from his home in Nevers, inviting him to come to play accordion at a new restaurant opening in Paris. The simple young man has been asked to scout waitresses for him, keeping an eye on two candidates to ensure they are of good character. He has been told to follow them, and then bring a potted plant after several days. Clément has just heard the news that the second girl he was 'observing' has been murdered, unaware yet that the first has been brutally murdered as well. Plenty of witnesses have seen Clément hanging around in the days leading up to the murders. And with his "tête de crétin" he's not exactly hard to identify. Not to mention that his fingerprints are on the pots.

It's obvious to Marthe that the simple mentally disabled young man has been set up, and even Clément himself is starting to realise the trouble he is in. Marthe knows the boy however and knows deep down that he is incapable of planning and carrying out such acts, assured that even lying is beyond his capabilities. She turns to Louis, or Ludwig as she calls him because of his background as 'l'Allemand', seeking help to hide Clément from the authorities until they can clear his name. Kehlweiler knows little about the circumstances of the murder has some reservations about Marthe's devotion to the young man who doesn't present an agreeable image. Nonetheless he brings Marc Vandoosler with him to interview Clément, a task that is more of a challenge than he imagined.

In San feu ni lieu we of course have a typically rich and uncommon group of characters, but Vargas also uses them exceptionally well to continue to expand and move further away from the more conventional plotting and motivation of the crime genre. This one takes some unexpected turns into historical crime - not as far back as in Un peu plus loin sur la droite - to create a complex web that she decorates further with her trademark 'bass notes; there's 'une grosse mouche dans le casque', a poem by Nerval, le Sécateur, all providing colour and rhythm that Vargas connects in inexplicable ways to surprising outcomes. There is also fuller involvement of the other eccentric 'evangelists' in the barraque pourrie this novel, which only serves to provide wonderfully amusing encounters and exchanges.

Reading notes: I'm currently re-reading all Fred Vargas in French, which is worthwhile for a number of reasons, not least the fact that I think she is the best crime writer in France, but also it's been too long since I last read them and other than a few memorable images, I no longer remember the details of how they each play out. Another good reason to keep reviews.

I previously read this in a collected slipcased paperback French edition of the Three Evangelists books, but I no longer have that collection. This re-reading was from an eBook collected edition 'Pack collector Fred Vargas - Les Enquêtes des Evangélistes', which collects Debout les morts, Un peu plus loin sur la droite and Sans feu ni lieu.