I loved this book and for so many reasons.

First off, the mystery was great. It kept me guessing until the murderer was revealed. Even better the murders and the other crimes were intriguingly complex.

Second I loved the characters. The protagonist a police commissioner exiled from Paris to Brittany was a delight. His thoughts and interactions with the native Bretons he works with, investigates, and encounters are rich and delightful.

Third the writing style was magnificent. Bannalec impart lots of information about Brittany and its unique salt industry in a painless and completely integrated way. Almost from the first page we are treated to lyrical writing about the landscape and towns of the region. The author made it sound so lovely that I'm ready to move there now.

I loved this book so much I barely wanted it to end!

When commissaire Dupin is asked by a journalist friend to investigate the sighting of mysterious blue barrels at a salt marsh in Brittany, France, he finds himself being bullied by another commissaire into solving nefarious dealings in the salt industry. I found myself comparing commissaire Dupin with another police inspector, Commissario Brunetti/Donna Leon. Both have a love for their country, both love to eat fine food, both have an assistant who is invaluable to their investigation and both have a variety of competent and incompetent police officers. Com. Dupin is a dull man with a dull life and has nothing nice to say about the police. His almost girlfriend is non-existent in the plot and adds nothing but a distraction to what is happening. Information about the production of salt was excellent in the beginning chapters. Mythology for the area could have used a dictionary of characters at the end of the book. Travel information was so detailed that it derailed the plot. Com. Dupin seems to live on coffee...which gets real trite about the third time it is mentioned. The getting in and out of vehicles takes up pages and pages of text. Speed limits, tickets for speeding, food, lack of food, could have been summed up nicely by editing multiple references to the activities, but seem to take up most of the beginning of each chapter. The author needs to make a decision; either the book is a travel book with a mystery, or a mystery. I've moved on to other books and did not see if the book was a translation. For a book that takes place in France, there is very little French. It felt like the French had been translated out. I did read till the end, frantically, because it was never ending to see "who done it". It was well explained as to who and why. I hoped to want to read more of commissaire Dupin...but sadly will not. I did go out and buy some fleur de sel....

Following a lead from a reporter friend, Commissarie Dupin heads to the salt ponds in Brittany to investigate mysterious blue barrels. When he is shot at, he realizes he needs to investigate further. Joining forces with Commissarie Rose, they try to discover what the barrels means. When the journalist friend is found dead, Dupin won't rest until he finds the truth. The background on this mystery was very informative. I knew nothing about harvesting salt and it was fascinating.

I was drawn to this story because of its unique setting and potentially intriguing premise: murder and the salt industry in Brittany. The clash between the traditional artisan nature of the salt producers and the need for tourism, and increased production, and the toll of environmental change were a nice side note to the murder solving detective work.
But I felt that the minutiae of salt production, detracted from the story line. The character motivations seemed, at times, forced. Perhaps one needs to start with earlier books to fully understand and appreciate the characters and Brittany setting.

I was unfamiliar with the Brittany Mysteries by Jean-Luc Bannalec until I read The Fleur de Sel Murders. I am glad I discovered the series and had a lot of fun reading this installment. As a fan of all things French, I really enjoyed reading about the Brittany region and the salt farming that occurs in that area. Commissaire Dupin is a marvelous protagonist with a clever and sly sense of humor, and the mystery taught me a lot about salt farming. The resolution was realistic and wrapped the story up nicely. My favorite part of the book was learning so much about the Bretons: the language, the ancient Breton legends, and the characteristics of the people from that area. The one small issue I have with the story is that Bannalec includes a ton of information and detail about salt farming – more than the average reader is going to want to read, but it does not take away from the story at all. I thoroughly enjoyed The Fleur de Sel Murders and look forward to the next book in the series. Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.