I had a very difficult time with this book because of the over use of French terms as well as French words and elaborate names.
The main character was not one that I could embrace with any warmth.

I had a very hard time getting into this book I just did not like the mystery in it.

Captain Roger Blanc is changing his life, but not of his own accord. His last post in France's Gendarmerie brought him a certain amount of attention for his work in the anti-corruption unit. Unfortunately for him, it was the wrong kind of attention, and he got shipped from his comfortable Paris life to a small town in Provence. And if that's not bad enough, his wife chose to stay in the city with her lover, leaving Blanc to start this new chapter of his life alone. 

He does have a place to live in his new city, as he had inherited a rundown house from his uncle ten years before. And while he loves the scent of the wild thyme growing in his new neighborhood, some of the new neighbors are not so happy to have a stranger moving in. And if Blanc thought the neighbors would be challenging, he had no idea what was waiting for him at his new post in the Gendarmerie. 

On his first day in his new department, Blanc is sent with his new partner to investigate a body that was on fire at the garbage dump. While it originally seems like it's just a matter of filling out the paperwork and handing off the body, it turns out that Blanc's partner figures out who was killed--a local thief and thug who made a lot of enemies. Suddenly, they have a genuine mystery on their hands, and Blanc needs to figure out how to find the killer without stepping on any more toes. 

Murderous Mistral was originally published in Germany and has been translated into English. Cay Rademacher brings Provence to life through the vivid and sensuous descriptions. But if you're looking for a cozy mystery with some warmth and humor, then this is not the book for you. Closer to a police procedural, Murderous Mistral is just a good police story told well, in a beautiful and moving location. 



Galleys for Murderous Mistral were provided by St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.

Mystery
Adult
Parisian gendarme Capitaine Roger Blanc has just completed a sweeping corruption investigation that resulted in several high-profile arrests, but also led to his being banished to Provence. It’s a punishment for being a bit too successful in a society where political lives are built on back-scratching and favours. To make matters worse for our hero, his wife announces she is staying in Paris. With her lover. Newly single, Roger heads to Sainte-Françoise-la-Vallée, nearly 1000 kms south of Paris. His new commandant is a rising star who is not happy to have a corruption expert sent to his stable of officers, and he assigns the Capitaine to a corner space with an ancient computer and a lethargic partner who enjoys long lunches with bottles of rosé. Their first case is a murder, when the charred and bullet-riddled body of a local miscreant is found at the dump. Principled and driven, Roger investigates thoroughly, raising the ire of local bigwigs and his own boss. Along the way, he copes with the summer mistral wind, discovers a gem of a colleague, meets neighbours both welcoming and annoying, and uncovers corruption and scandal that may or may not have anything to do with the case. Originally published in German, the English edition is capably translated by Peter Millar, using descriptive language that evokes the beauty of the Provençal setting as well as the cultural quirks of the south of France, giving it an exotic air. The procedural-type plot is well developed, with lots of clues and evidence to help alert readers determine the murderer’s identity and motive. I really like this detective, who reminds me of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache. There is the same dedication to excellence combined with a rather wry view of human nature. Thoroughly enjoyable. There are already more titles in the series but they are not yet translated; I look forward to reading more. My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the advance reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33602127

I enjoyed the author's new detective, Roger Blanc, for the most part and his descriptions of the region in France where Roger lives.

However, sometimes I felt the writing was overthought and overwritten. The sex scene with Roger and his superior? Why? Definitely just page filler for me and not needed at all. I don't even think it went with the character. A man who wondered if he had kissed or not kissed someone right.

A decent read albeit with a lot of unnecessary writing in which I enjoyed learning more French curse words.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Great read. Slick and understated!

Capitaine Roger Blanc is the ideal obsessive investigator, formerly with the Parisian anti-corruption unit. Perhaps a bit too obsessive as after a successful case against personages in high places he finds himself reallocated to Sainte-Françoise-la-Vallée, a hamlet in Provence 500 miles south of Paris.
At the same time his marriage collapses. Blanc is forced into making a fresh start. Fortunately he owns a 200 year old dilapidated house that he'd virtually forgotten he'd inherited and had for some unknown reason kept on paying the taxes.
His welcoming investigation was that of the body of a man deliberately torched. By all accounts Moréas had been a very nasty person; a belligerent bully who terrorized his neighbours and anyone else who crossed his path, a thief and murderer. A man no-one mourned when he met his grisly ending.
Blanc can't help but sniff out corruption, can't help wanting to find the real culprit of Moréas' murder, not just the convenient person his upright, regulation ridden Commandant wants to hang the murder on.
Blanc's partners in his new position are nicely underplayed and as the story progresses we see them develop more fully, just as Blanc does.
The translation from German to English by Peter Millar has the story flowing without a language hitch.
This is the first in the series. I look forward to future developments in the life of Roger Blanc.

A NetGalley ARC

Murder, Corruption, and the Mistral

Captaine Roger Blanc specializes in ferreting our corruption. He thinks he’s solved an important case in Paris when suddenly he’s transferred to Provence, to a small provincial hamlet. His wife decides to stay behind in Paris with her lover, so he’s alone in a crumbling house that was once housed an olive olive press.

On his first day on the job, the Commandant assigns a murder case that looks like a drug related death that will go immediately to Marseilles. Unfortunately, Blanc’s partner Tonon recognizes the body as belonging to a local thug who delights in terrorizing his neighbors. The Commandant expects the case to go away, but when another body turns up, this time a builder who may or may not have been accidentally killed on his sailboat, Blanc can’t give up the hunt.

The best part of this book is the scenes of Provence, the scent of wild thyme, and the haunting winds of the Mistral. I enjoyed the way Blanc, the Parisian, begins to appreciate his new home. He’s a character you can’t help but relate to. He knows that he may be getting himself crosswise with his new superior, but when he scents the mystery, he has to go after the culprit.

The mystery is not hard to figure out. The author gives us all the clues early in the novel. However, because the French police and criminal justice system are so different from ours, it’s a fascinating read. If you enjoy a good mystery, and likable characters in an exotic local, you’ll enjoy this book.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

I enjoyed this mystery set in the south of France. The characters are colorful and the descriptions of the food were great. The investigation proceeded at a steady pace without many detours which is something I always appreciate in a mystery. I would definitely read another in this series.

Great mystery, great characters, I loved the setting and I can only hope that the author continues this as a series because the group of sidekicks alone are reason enough for a new book!

What I liked: I enjoyed all the little details that brought the region to life from the mistral wind to the vivid house descriptions and details about the scenery. At times, I could almost smell the things that Roger does: food on a barbeque grill and thyme scented air To top it all off, the author did a nice job of characterizing an interesting variety of people.

The mystery itself does not appear to be an easy one to solve, and the main character, Roger Blanc definitely is having a difficult time pulling all the pieces together. He has very little help from some of the higher ups who want the murder solved quickly, but also don’t wish to have him stepping on any of their friends toes. The progress in the investigation was well-written and I liked how the author showed how everything started to gradually come together.

What would have made it better: eliminating the swear words that are peppered throughout the book. I prefer to see the character’s frustration through their actions. If an author absolutely cannot write without having a swear word, why not use damn or dammit? Why bring God into it? In this book, it almost seems like the swear words were added just to throw some in. They certainly didn’t seem to have a reason to even be in the book.

What didn’t work (spoiler): towards the end of the book, the author has Blanc visiting Aveline Vialarone-Allegre Juge d’instruction, wife of the minister of state, at her house to discuss the details of the case and get permission to move forward with the investigation. Aveline is a very strong woman who wields her authority in a no-nonsense manner. Some of the police officers are intimidated by her. In this particular scene, she shows Blanc to a room where she seats him on a sofa bed and she takes the only chair in the room. As the conversation progresses she moves closer and closer to him. (Can you visualize this with the sofa bed and the chair as the only furniture? Can you picture a female moving to one end of the sofa bed and then moving a little closer—stopping—moving—stopping? Ridiculous!) She then kisses him and drops her clothing. This male fantasy scene would have been better left out. It complicates any professionalism between the two, and it does not ring true for the strong female character the author created.

Murderous Mistral: A Provence Mystery is the first Roger Blanc mystery by author Cay Rademacher. This series has been previously published in Germany so I know there are at least 3 more books in this series to look forward to. Minotaur Books has given this book a gorgeous cover that I know will catch people's eye.

Capitaine Roger Blanc, an investigator with the anti-corruption-unit of the French Gendarmerie,has recently been assigned to a small town in Provence. Having visited Provence before, I was impressed with the descriptions of Provence by the author, Rademacher.

I know a little bit about the French political system and the power of the trade unions so I found the corruption at all levels to be very believable. Despite the fact that the book was translated from German, I found the book to be well written, well plotted and an intriguing read.

I enjoyed all the characters introduced to us in this debut book of the series. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Highly recommend Murderous Mistral.

Murderous Mistral is the first in a new series by Cay Rademacher who also writes the Inspector Frank Stave series about a German police officer in American-occupied German after World War II. This new series features Captain Roger Blanc, an intuitive and determined investigator whose stunning success at uncovering official corruption has landed him in exile in Provence just in time for the mistral – cold, dry high winds that blow down the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean. These winds are nearly mythic and dominate the region during their season.

Blanc is assigned a murder case the day he arrives, one that is expected to be handed off to Marseilles as soon as they show up. However, the victim is a local miscreant so he gets to stay on the case. Assisting him, a burned out fellow officer haunted by an old case that involved the victim and a hyper-competent lesbian officer who makes Blanc’s success possible.

The story is rich in local detail, with neighbors who drop by, with the scent of thyme and the beautiful vistas of Provence. Much is made of the cultural differences of the midi, the South of France compared to Blanc’s childhood in the north and his adult life in Paris. There is a lot that reminds me of Martin Walker’s Chief Bruno series, the local characters, the reverence for food and wine, and the mystery rooted in local knowledge and politics.



Murderous Mistral is a fair mystery with an interesting main character and supporting characters. The clues are there and shared with the reader. This is a good procedural, walking us through how the police work with prosecutors throughout the investigation, a very different system than ours that adds interest to the story.

There is a cynicism about police corruption that is disturbing. Blanc is convinced that his superiors could gladly arrest an innocent man whose biography makes a good story that rocks no boats. Would that happen? Perhaps, human nature can be appalling when folks want to protect their livelihood. Still, French police are considered relatively free of corruption relative to most other countries. There was a scandal in Marseilles (the closest big city in this book) in 2012 with officers seizing drugs and then letting drug dealers go while retaining the drugs for their personal enrichment, but that is not the kind of corruption here.

Perhaps, human nature can be appalling when folks want to protect their livelihood. Still, French police are considered relatively free of corruption relative to most other countries. There was a scandal in Marseilles (the closest big city in this book) in 2012 with officers seizing drugs and then letting drug dealers go while retaining the drugs for their personal enrichment, but that is not the kind of corruption here.

I am looking forward to the next in the series. Blanc is an interesting, smart detective, starting a new life, divorced after twenty years of marriage, exiled from his city, so there is plenty of interest in addition to the mystery.

Murderous Mistral at St. Martins Press | Macmillan
The Roger Blanc Series at Macmillan
Cay Rademacher personal blog (German)
Cay Rademacher on GoodReads

Richard Blanc, Captain in the French Gendarmerie, anti-corruption division in Paris gets transferred down to the town of Gadet in Provance’s Touloubre Valley. Unclear if it’s because he was too successful in rooting out corruption and therefore making enemies, the story starts out with Richard moving into the derelict olive mill that he inherited from his uncle 10 years ago.

It quickly comes to light that in addition to being transferred, Richard’s marriage is dissolved the same weekend as his transfer when his wife of 20 years tells him they are getting a divorce.

Shortly after arriving to work, he is given his first homicide which is thought to be open and shut case related to Marseilles’ drug cartels due to the nature of the brutal killing with a very common gun used frequently by the cartels. Of course, Richard starts investigating and through his inquiries gets tangled up with the highly influential personalities and politicians of the region.

Thoroughly enjoyed the story and the description of the places and people of Southern France. The mistral makes for an intense backdrop as the book continues towards its ending. Very well written, good style. Reminds me a little of the charming Bruno series by Martin Walker, but with a harder, more cynical edge.

Blanc is a investigator who has fallen from grace. He has been removed from his position in Paris and sent to a small town in Southern France. Out of site, out of mind...until there is a murder and he finds himself making the higher ups uncomfortable again. This is a good translation and I would read more Roger Blanc novels.

Because I did not finish the book, I feel it is unfair to attempt to write a review. The writing is wonderful, but I just don't care enough about the characters to want to continue reading.

Originally published in German in 2014 as Mörderischer Mistral and translated to English by Peter Millar.

This is the first of (currently) 4 books with Inspector Roger Blanc, a captain in the anti-corruption department of the Sûreté who has been sent to Provence after a particularly sensational corruption case involving high ranking politicians in Paris. This is the only one translated to English thus far (though I sincerely hope the others follow soon). The translation work is beautifully done and the narrative is perfectly readable and doesn't suffer for having been translated from its original language.


The stress of Roger Blanc's job has taken a toll on his marriage, so with both the marriage and his career in tatters, he moves to a ruin of a house he inherited years before in Provence.


If that seems a slightly trite set up, what follows is a taut, beautifully paced well written book which I loved reading.


The sense of place is palpable. The characters are believable and well written. They're smart and clever and competent (and not provincial clods). The setting is as much a part of the story as the characters are, along with the sights and smells of the French countryside complete with wine and local cuisine.


The culture and slow pace of life in southern France contrast well with the rather brutal murder (the first victim turns up at the local dump, burnt after being shot multiple times with a kalashnikov rifle). The pacing of the book ramps up quickly to a breathless denouement in the middle of a deadly forest fire.


I couldn't give higher praise than to say that this book reminded me of the wonderful Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. I will absolutely be checking out the author and hope very much that the next books follow soon.


Five stars.


Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.