The Chalk Circle Man [Import] [Paperback]

Fred Vargas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2010

Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. His methods appear unorthodox in the extreme: he doesn’t search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with iron-clad alibis; he appears permanently distracted.

The Chalk Circle Man is the first book featuring Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, one of the most engaging characters in contemporary detective fiction.

When strange, blue chalk circles start appearing overnight on the pavements of Paris, the press take up the story with amusement and psychiatrists trot out their theories. Adamsberg is alone in thinking this is not a game and far from amusing. He insists on being kept informed of new circles and the increasingly bizarre objects which they contain: empty beer cans, four trombones, a pigeon’s foot, four cigarette lighters, a badge proclaiming “I Love Elvis,” a hat, a doll’s head. Adamsberg senses the cruelty that lies behind these seemingly random occurrences. Soon a circle with decidedly less banal contents is discovered: the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut. Adamsberg knows that other murders will follow.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, the sleuth who doesn't do deductive reasoning, will welcome the first in Vargas's inspired crime series (This Night's Foul Work; Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand), originally published in France in 1990. Newly transferred from his home in the Pyrenees to Paris, the 45-year-old Adamsberg arrives with a reputation for solving big cases, though his diffident manner doesn't impress his colleague and foil, Adrien Danglard. A solitary man drawing blue chalk circles at night around stray objects in Paris streets manages to create a media sensation, but Adamsberg senses evil behind the act. When the corpse of a woman is found encircled in chalk, he's proven right. Adamsberg's indirect approach, his ability to sense cruelty and to let solutions percolate to the surface make him one of the more intriguing police detectives in a long time. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

When European mystery authors make their way to the U.S., it often happens that their books are published out of order. So it is with this sixth Commissaire Adamsberg novel to appear here, which, in fact, is the series debut. Newly promoted from the provinces to a post in Paris, the Maigret-like Adamsberg—whose intuitive sleuthing combines the “belief of a child and the philosophy of an old man”—quickly overcomes the doubts of his colleagues and homes in on the seemingly insignificant phenomenon of chalk circles being drawn at random points around the city, each circle enclosing a piece of urban detritus (a Coke can, a single shoe). Adamsberg senses that the circles will soon surround dead bodies, and so they do. In addition to introducing her hero, Vargas also provides backstory on a host of other ongoing series characters, including the white-wine-swilling Inspector Danglard, whose logical mind is continually tested by his new boss’ belief in instinct. Later installments ramp up the contrast between Vargas’ comic touch and her dark themes, but as a stage-setter, this one is required reading for series devotees. --Bill Ott --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Canada (January 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307396886
• ISBN-13: 978-0307396884
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Fred Vargas was born in Paris in 1957. As well as being a best-selling author in France, she is an historian and archaeologist.

She worked at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), which she joined in 1988. She later joined the Institut Pasteur, as a eukaryotic archaeologist.

She mostly writes police thrillers (policiers). They take place in Paris and feature the adventures of Chief Inspector Adamsberg and his team. Her interest in the Middle Ages is manifest in many of her novels, especially through the person of Marc Vandoosler, a young specialist in the period. Seeking Whom He May Devour was shortlisted by the British Crime Writers' Association for the last Gold Dagger award for best crime novel of the year, and the following year The Three Evangelists won the inaugural Duncan Lawrie International Dagger. She also won the award for the second year-running with Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first of a great series, April 26, 2009

By 

J. Gabrielson (Walnut Creek, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chalk Circle Man (Hardcover)

The first novel in a great series by Fred Vargas, who has created a most unique "hero" in the person of Inspector Adamsberg. I love the way his mind works( or doesn't:-). I love the secondary characters who act as foils for the intuitive Adamsberg. They reason logically and most know a great many more details about the world than does Adamsberg. Yet, it is the seemingly bumbling Adamberg who reaches the correct conclusion through his superb ability to associate many disparate details and use pattern thinking to find the truth. I cannot wait for more of these wonderful novels to be translated into English. I have all that are currently available and I highly recommend each and every one of them.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Commissaire Adamsberg : The early days, August 25, 2009

By 

Carol Karas (Camarillo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chalk Circle Man: A Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery (Commissaire Adamsberg Mysteries) (Paperback)

I became an enthusiastic fan of Fred Vargas and Commissaire Adamsberg after I picked up and read This Night's Foul Work. I have been working my way backwards though the series and discovering the source of the relationships between the main characters. While The Chalk Circle Man introduces Commissaire Adamsberg and his unique approach to solving crimes, it lacks the rich and clever language that makes the later Adamsberg novels sparkle. I enjoyed it for the background of the characters and now appreciate the fantastic growth of Fred Vargas as a writer. Don't miss this series, it is a gem.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stand-Out from an Outstanding French author, September 28, 2009

By 

Lisa Marie (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chalk Circle Man: A Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery (Commissaire Adamsberg Mysteries) (Paperback)

Another customer reviewer summed it up best: this series and especially this book is "a gem". I've heard of Fred Vargas for a long while but kept resisting trying her novels (perhaps it was the dreary black and white cover art?). My only complaint is that I waited so long. I started with The Three Evangelists, a stand-alone novel, then picked up the Chalk Circle Man, the first in her series. The main character, Paris Commissaire Adamsberg, is an endearing oddball of sorts. In both his personal and professional lives, people have a difficult time figuing him out which naturally sets him apart from the crowd and often makes life lonely.

I was impressed with the characters, plotting, writing style (including the excellent translation) and the realistic depiction of French people and culture. For fans of international crime fiction, or Simenon/Maigret, do yourself a favor and read The Chalk Circle Man.