Another great addition to the Commissaire Dupin series. I've developed quite a desire to see Brittany after reading these novels. Dupin's missing his coworkers as people have been taking vacations but a murder has happened in his immediate neighborhood (coinciding with Claire's parents' visit). The story was a bit convoluted at times - it ties together at the end, but the mystery was confusing. It's always great to get to visit the French coast (at least in my imagination) through Bannalec's stories.

Enjoyable setting, persuasive detective with issues since crime is set at home .. what's not to like in this French summer time/sunny setting .. the murders surprising but not too grim and its solved. Excellent entertaining read .. and I discover it's a series with same detective in same world.. I'm looking for earlier ones now!

This cozy police procedural series is set in Brittany. Commissaire Dupin investigates the murder of a well-known doctor. However this is not the only murder. The case is reminiscent of an old novel set in the same town - a mystery by Simenon. In The Yellow Dog, three prosperous men ruin the life of a young man. I love the setting, it’s on my “bucket list”.

This 8th in an engaging police procedural series is as much a celebration of Brittany as it is about 'whodunit'.

After cardiologist/GP Pierre Chaboseau is found by his wife in a large pool of blood, Dupin is kept very busy chasing leads (and his scattered staff) while trying to avoid his in-laws.

Dupin finds parallels between a Maigret mystery, The Yellow Dog, and this case. Though it's a challenging one, he does, of course, solve it!

The Body by the Sea is the 8th Brittany Mystery by Jean-Luc Bannalec. Released 25th April 2023 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out from the same publisher in second quarter 2024. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a restful and well written series. It's absolutely redolent with the food, culture, sights, and sounds of Brittany and the coastal areas. An ensemble cast, featuring the clever and understanding Commisaire Georges Dupin, return to solve a crime, this time a murder on Dupin's own home turf.

The book is full of wonderful descriptions of food, settings, the areas in and around Concarneau, including references to Georges Simeon's classic mysteries, one of which was fictitiously set in the same area, in 1931.

This is *such* a restful series. Well constructed, beautifully written, and genuinely entertaining. Although it's the 8th book in the series, the mystery is self contained and it works perfectly well as a standalone. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, or for a long binge or buddy read.

Four and a half stars.

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

This is the first book I have read in this series. When I began the book, I was amazed that there were no chapters in the book, just a continuous flow of the story. I have never encountered that before, and I am not sure I like it. In the story, detective Georges Dupin investigates the death of Doctor Chaboseau, apparently pushed from the window of his home, a distance from the ground. The detective works diligently to figure out what exactly happened, moving through clue after clue, many of which are implausible and red herrings. He doesn’t seem to trust his staff to help him in the investigation and two of his key detectives are on holiday. It was interesting to watch him work through whatever he finds and assumes, though it did get somewhat tiresome at times. This is when I really missed the chapters. As can be expected, he does manage to find answers, though they seemed to come up a bit suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly. Still, it was an interesting book. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Jean-Luc Bannalec writes another sun and ocean soaked Brittany mystery. Commissaire Dupin is supposed to spend time with his future in laws but murder intervenes. All but two of his colleagues are on vacation and not answering their phones when a local doctor fell to his death pushed from a window. The doctor is one of a trio of wealthy business partners who may have been up to no good. What could go wrong?

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
While this was my first novel of this series, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Even though I did not know the previous books, the author does not leave us hanging and explains briefly who they are so there is no confusion. While I enjoyed the story, the chapters were just too longand often seemed repetitive. It was a "cute" story but was also confusing at times trying to figure out who is who again. There were too many characters placed in the story line.
Writing was easy to follow but again, I am not a fan of long chapters as they tend to drag on and lose my interest. The story definitely took an interesting twist at the end that was totally unexpected. I thought I had figured out who the "bad person" was but was definitely very wrong!

Mystery | Adult
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This is Bannalec’s eighth novel in the Commissaire Georges Dupin mystery series set in coastal Brittany, and the fourth I’ve read and reviewed. In this murder mystery, spanning only three days from start to finish, most of the senior staff are away from the office in an attempt to escape the madness of a renovation at the police station in Concarneau. Even Dupin is relaxing in the sun, leaving the station in the hands of two new but capable hires. But his sunbathing break is interrupted when the local doctor’s body is found on the courtyard below a broken window in his study. Upon realizing the doctor was murdered (in Dupin’s own town!) Dupin scrambles to reach his assistant Nolwenn and Inspector Riwal, but both are out of cellphone reach. Plus Claire’s parents arrive early for a weekend visit, and she is not answering her cell either! Dupin and his young policewomen, Le Menn and Nevou, start investing a tangle of leads and connections, generating a list of suspects that range from the doctor’s aloof wife and estranged son to a new partner in his practice and two business connections. There’s even a strange parallel to Georges Simenon’s detective novel set in Concarneau, The Yellow Dog. How Dupin unravels the complex connections, uncovers the lies and red herrings, while enjoying the stunning beauty of the Brittany seaside town and its culinary delights, is as always an enjoyable reading experience, making it a travel story as much as a mystery. Author Bannalec (it’s a pen name) lives in both Germany and Brittany; he publishes the stories first in German, and they are most capably translated by Sorcha McDonagh, who somehow manages to create a style of writing, as I’ve said before, that leaves the reader “hearing” a French accent in the reading. Delightful! Like its earlier series entries, this book can be read as a standalone, especially since Nolwenn and Riwal are slow to appear in this novel, and even Claire only pops up occasionally. I rather missed them all, and I must say Dupin is growing remarkably patient! I miss the crankiness… My thanks to Minotaur Books for the digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784521

The series is a huge hit in Germany and has been televised, as to why a German writer writes under a French pen name and writes mysteries that are so well received ? I can only speculate but the books (this is the eighth installment - they can be read as standalones) are fabulously well plotted and the author quite obviously loves Brittany, the food, the towns and villages, the nature and the people. This love translates well to the page and each of the books has a captivating crime while also taking you on a little vacation to Brittany - in Germany accompanying travel guides and cookbooks are out as well - it is really a phenomenon...
This eighth installment has Commissaire Dupin investigating right in his hometown of Concarneau, Brittany, where he is called when a doctor has fallen or was pushed from his office window - he was a wealthy man with investments ranging all across the board from paintings to local breweries - and on top of that there's a fire obviously sabotage at the local shipyard and the owner is a business partner of the dead doctor ... but is there a connection - Dupin is very short staffed since it's a holiday weekend in May and everyone's taken off, his own parents-in-law are in town but what can he do?
A book for bookish people since a true crime novel from the 1930s plays into the solving of the crime The main character, Dupin, is a thoughtful man who solves crimes from the desk or table while drinking loads of coffee by being observant and taking notes, talking to people, especially people with more intimate knowledge of the people involved. He reminds me of Detective Gamache in Louise Penny's Three Pines series.

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.

Thank you for a chance to preview this book. I'm sure many patrons will love this mystery. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

What is most memorable about this book is the clever way the author weaves the 1931 book The Yelliw Dog by George Simenon into the present day story. Makes me want to get that book and compare them side by side. Nice twist at the end. Thanks to #NetGalley and #TheBodyByTheSea
for advanced digital copy.

All of Bannalec’s books have a similar cover design. Every time that I see one, I know that I want to read the book. This title, the eighth in the series, was no exception.

I love the detective, the French setting in Brittany, the foods and the mysteries. This time a doctor falls to his death from a balcony. Dupin investigates him and some of his business associates while dealing with his own family and, of course, finding time to eat. Plus, there is a second murder. All in all, an enjoyable read that netted a Publishers Weekly starred review.

(By the way, there has been a TV series made of some of the earlier books. I think that it is shown on MHZ network.)

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Commissaire Georges Dupin has given his Inspectors the time off when he was contacted to investigate the death of Dr. Pierre Chaboseau. Apparently he "fell" from their apartment window. . So off he goes to the province of Brittany and to the city of Concarneau.. Inspector Dupin was banished from Paris and chose this town as his home.

He was traveling with Claire, his companion, who was now alone to tour the town with her parents while Dupin works on this murder. Dupin needs more help and so he replaces his Inspectors with two policewomen. He eventually solves the crime while the reader is entertained with this investigation and the Breton sea.

I believe it would be more enjoyable if I read the other book(s) in the series to become familiar with the landscape and Dupin's history.

On a glorious day in Brittany, Commissaire Georges Dupin relaxed in the grassy area on a cliff high above the sea. A phone call ruins his relaxing afternoon when he is called to the scene of a murder. Dr. Chaboseau plunged from his office window to the courtyard below. The doctor was from a prominent family and was involved in investment deals with the owner of a chain of pharmacies and a local brewer. Dupin’s regular team is scattered on vacations and paternity leave. Now he must work with two new members while trying to contact his assistant Nolwenn and Inspector Riwal.. When an explosion takes place in a shipyard that the trio had invested in and another of the investors is murdered, Dupin is no closer to a solution.

The author Georges Simenon had spent time in Concarneau. It is Inspector Riwal who makes a connection between one of his books and the current crimes. Dupin begins digging into the history of the area and the inspiration for Simenon’s book to find answers in the present. With the return of Nolwenn, Dupin has his miracle worker back. There is no piece of information that she can not find and offers her support to Dupin when he struggles to make connections and solve the murders. Jean-Luc Bannalec’s characters work well together and his descriptions of French cuisine and the beautiful countryside provide an armchair visit to France. It is always a pleasure to spend time with Commissaire Dupin, making Bannalec’s mysteries highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for my review.

4 stars for a fast paced mystery that I read in 3 days. I have read books 3, 4, and 5 in this series and this is book 8. While I had enough familiarity with the characters to enjoy this book, I would have enjoyed it more if I had read all of the preceding books. The book opens with a suspicious death of a wealthy man who has fallen through a second story window. Commissaire Georges Dupin is in charge of the case. He and his team do solve the case. The author has drawn parallels with a mystery written by Georges Simenon. The Inspector Maigret book by Simenon was published in 1931 and has similarities to this case. Dupin finds clues in the book that help him solve the case.
Two quotes:
A painting on the deceased's wall: "How much is the painting worth?"
"It's not one of the really expensive ones. They paid one point three million."
Dupin and coffee: "It didn't matter where the commissaire was in the general vicinity of Concarneau, he could have listed in his sleep where to get a reasonable coffee at any time of day or night. Along with the restaurants and cafes, he also knew the petrol stations, supermarkets, bakeries, hotels, clubs, cinemas and train stations"
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#TheBodyByTheSea

I am a huge Francophile, and I love these books by Jean-Luc Bannalec. "The Body By the Sea" is the eighth installment of this delightful series set in Brittany with Commissaire Dupin as the protagonist. If you are unfamiliar with this series "The Body By the Sea" can be read as a standalone with no difficulty.

I won't give spoilers as I dislike them, and you can always read the blurb. This book is written with Bannalec's (pseudonym of Jorg Bong) custom verve and wit, and is just a pleasure to read. The mystery is excellent, and I didn't see the ending coming. One of the things I love the most is the wonderful atmosphere of France; the food, the wine, the people, the "Frenchness" of things. It brings to mind Martin Walker's Chief of Police, Bruno, in all of the best ways.

I cannot recommend this book too highly for mystery lovers or Francophiles. Or both!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

TL;DR

The Body by the Sea by Jean-Luc Bannalec follows Georges Dupin as he tries to solve the murder of one of Concarneau’s wealthier citizens. This police procedural also acts as a tour through Concarneau. Even though this is book eight in the series, The Body by the Sea welcomes new readers. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: The Body by the Sea by Jean-Luc Bannalec

Setting can become iconic for certain novels. Middle Earth for Tolkien, Hogwarts for Harry Potter, Arrakis for Frank Herbert, Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente, Ambergris for Jeff Vandermeer, and Bas-Lag for China Miéville, all stand out as the setting being as important as the story. Reading any of those works evokes a wonderful place that’s fun to visit (at least, vicariously). While all of these are fictional settings, there exist plenty of real world settings that make their stories excel. The Old West in Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and John Irving’s New England setting have always felt as important to their stories as the plot. For The Body by the Sea by Jean-Luc Bannalec, the setting of Brittany in France is not only important to the book, but it hooks the reader as the main character, Monsieur Le Commissaire Georges Dupin, takes readers on a tour in this eighth book of the Brittany Mystery Series. As this was the first book by Bannalec that I’ve read, I found the setting to be delightful and tempting. If my son were a bit older, we might have taken the trip to Concarneau to experience the region that Bannalec loves so much.

Monsieur le Commissaire Georges Dupin is preparing for the long Pentecost weekend when a murder strikes, and it strikes in his town, Concarneau. Concarneau is on the southern coast of Brittany in France. Dupin must put his long weekend and plans with his in-laws on hold in order to solve this murder. Doctor Chaboseau is a wealthy investor, art collector, and owner of a lucrative medical practice. His death sends Dupin delving into the wealthy of Concarneau, their businesses, and their history. Dupin is running on all cylinders from the start, but he’s without his best detectives Nolwenn and Riwal. Follow along as Dupin works through the mystery of who killed Doctor Charboseau.

The Body by the Sea by Jean-Luc Bannalec is third person point of view novel that closely follows Georges Dupin throughout the course of a murder investigation in Concarneau, France. The pacing is a bit slower than U.S. readers are used to in mystery novels. Bannalec rewards his audience with a lovely travelogue around Concarneay and Brittany. This book is very much a police procedural in that readers follow Dupin through all aspects of leading an investigation. Since Dupin is without help on the long weekend, he’s the one doing the interviews. It’s an excellent police procedural and an even better enticement to visit the region of Brittany in France.

An Amazing Setting

As said earlier, this book does an excellent job setting us in Concarneau and the northwest of France. Bannalec truly loves the region and writes like a public relations agent. Hopefully whoever is in charge of French tourism is giving Bannalec commissions on all the vacations his writing induces. I want to visit Concarneau and Brittany now. Readers learn about the area, many restaurants that Dupin loves, surfing in the area, some local legends, and a bit of the geography. It’s clear through Dupin’s love of the region that Bannalec loves the region. Concarneau is as much a part of the story as it is a setting. The town’s history and industry play a role in the mystery surrounding the doctor’s death.

Distinctly European

Jean-Luc Bannalec is the pen name of Jörg Bong, a German writer, who splits his time between Germany and the southern part of the French department of Finistère. The Body by the Sea was originally published in German. (It’s translated into English by Sorcha McDonagh.) So, it’s a thoroughly European book from my two favorite countries in Europe. But more than that, it has a distinct feel from U.S. literature that drew me and was off putting at the same time. While Dupin is under time pressure to get the mystery solved in hopes of preventing more murders, he’s not rushing around without thought. He takes a very cerebral approach to solving the case. His cops aren’t violent; there’s no gun battles or car chases; and no one’s framing Dupin for the job. It’s a straight forward murder investigation that involves gathering information, sifting through it all to find important details, and putting it together to make a coherent story. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does. Dupin and Concarneau carry the story in a way that action would for a U.S. author. I found this change of pace to be refreshing.

To be clear, there exists plenty of tension in the novel. Readers can expect that the story will keep their interest. For those like me who must know who the murderer is, you won’t be disappointed. Bannalec kept me guessing until the very end.

Monsieur Le Commissaire

Georges Dupin is the point of view character for the novel, and the weight of the narrative rests on his shoulders. He came off as likable with a need to solve problems. He rushes around the region looking for answers, gathering details, and eating. Georges loves coffee and can give you a list of places to get the best coffee at any time of day in Concarneau. He’s often ordering two petits cafés, drinking one down straight away. His mother-in-law plagues him during this novel, and he seems lost without Nolwenn and Riwal, even as he’s irritated by Riwal’s constant digressions. It’s clear that he trusts his assistants to help him and let’s them do their job without micro-managing them. Dupin is mostly a genial man but can turn up the heat when needed.

Dupin also plays so different from what a U.S. author would write of a law enforcement officer with Dupin’s experience. He’s not world-weary; the job doesn’t weigh on him; he’s not burned out; and he doesn’t suspect everyone as being a liar. Despite all the murder that Dupin’s investigated, he still loves his wife, loves his town, and, like any good Frenchman, loves his food. He doesn’t blame the media for all the wrong in the world, and people seem to generally like him in the town. Is this how it is with European police?

Conclusion

Jean-Luc Bannalec’s The Body by the Sea is an excellent police procedural set in the lovely city of Concarneau and its surrounding region. Though I’ve never been, I now want to visit Brittany, to take in the sights that Bannalec so lovingly describes. Until that day, I’ll be returning to Brittany with another of Bannalec’s Dupin books. Highly recommended.

If you can't leave home to visit Brittany then this delightful series is the next best thing. Brittany is more than the setting of this series, it is a living character in all its splendor. The sights, the smells, the people, the food, the folklore and so much more welcome the reader to absorb it all. Your guide is Commissaire George Dupin, a transplant from Paris. At one time he wanted to return to Paris but now? Not so much. He muses that, in the eight years he has lived in Concarneau, there has never been a crime to solve on his home turf. He certainly has one (or more) now.
A very prominent doctor has fallen through a large window in the third floor apartment to the courtyard below. At first glance it looks like a tragic accident or was it suicide? Murder is the cause and Dupin, minus most of his team who are on vacation, must investigate with the help of two new police officers. It starts as one case but other incidents crop up and they have ties to the dead man and his two business partners. Is Dupin dealing with one case with many threads to tie them together or several cases with no ties. Juggling the cases is one thing but he will also have to deal with his future in-laws who are visiting and who add an extra touch of humor to the mix.
Besides the well developed puzzle to solve there is a connection to the George Simenom and his mystery The Yellow Dog. The reader also learns much about what Brittany and Concarneau have given the world. Becoming immersed in the books in this series makes for a lovely vacation.
My thanks to the publisher Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.