Le Crime (Louis Morgan Mysteries) [Paperback]

Peter Steiner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Louis Morgan Mysteries | Publication Date: July 8, 2008

A cross between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and A Year in Provence, this ingenious thriller gets stunning raves from one and all:

“Unforgettable . . . combines elements of Agatha Christie and Robert Ludlum.”
---Bookreporter.com

“A riveting murder mystery.”
---France Today

“Steiner sketches such a rich life for his tiny town that he makes you want to get on the next plane.”
---Chicago Tribune

“A beautiful crime novel.”
---Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author of Nightlife

“A page-turner---like a good Alan Furst or Graham Greene novel.”
---The Washingtonian

“Louis Morgon is a marvel.”
---Olen Steinhauer, author of Victory Square

“Le Crime est superbe.”
---Jim Fusilli, author of Hard, Hard City

Former State Department expert Louis Morgon finds a murdered body on the doorstep of his charming little house in France, and he and the local gendarme team up to solve the murder. Thriller and mystery lovers: Bon appetit!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A fantastic novel, at once a gripping political thriller, and a complex mystery tale.”
---David Brooks, author of Bobos in Paradise

“Le Carré and Deighton fans will welcome Steiner’s engaging first novel.”
---Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Also known for his cartoons in The New Yorker, this is Peter Steiner’s first novel in the Louis Morgon thriller series; the second, L’Assassin, is forthcoming soon from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Minotaur. Le Crime was originally published in hardcover under the title A French Country Murder.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (July 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312380666
• ISBN-13: 978-0312380663
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PETER STEINER was born and grew up in Cincinnati. After the University of Miami and the Free University of Berlin, and then after serving in the army in Germany, he got a PHD. in German literature. He taught at Dickinson College for eight years, but left teaching to become an artist and cartoonist. For the next twenty-five years he made his living as a cartoonist for The New Yorker and many other publications. He created the cartoon "On the internet nobody knows you're a dog," the most reproduced cartoon The New Yorker has ever published. In the late 1990's he began writing novels, at first for his own amusement. Then his first novel, A French Country Murder was published in 2003. His second followed in 2008; his third in 2010. He lives in Connecticut and spends a good part of each year in rural France, where all three of his books take place. He divides his time between writing and painting. His paintings can be seen on his website, plsteiner.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, February 6, 2010

By 

Gavin H. Crawford "Gauvain" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Le Crime (Louis Morgan Mysteries) (Paperback)

E. Jakubassa comments that Coyot's review "... is much more entertaining than this book, it seemsl" This is largely due to the fact that Coyote obviously spent far more time writing his review than he did reading the book. This is about the most superficial review I have ever read.

Now, I don't rate it as a great novel, but good enough for me to buy his sequel. Almost every page gave me something to think about; not always relevant to the story being told, but about modern society in two hemispheres and relationships. The relationships between Louis Morgon and his children, his old colleagues, his friends in France and the country he left for a new life in France.

Coyote missed almost everything that was relevant. His rant about a pivotal scene in which Louis walks in on his ex wife have sex with his ex-boss totally misses the point. His ex-boss has gone on to become the Secretary of State, and his only humiliating experience was this one, and it has eaten away at him for 20 years. It wasn't humiliation at being caught in the act; after all Louis had never cared for his wife and had left her anyway. He was humiliated because he had undermined and destroyed Louis's career in the State Department and yet Louis had witnessed his weakness.

Read the other reviews for the storyline. Also read the reviews posted for "A French Country Murder" which was the original title or better still, buy the book and experience something different to most crime/mystery novels

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Le Crime = A French Country Murder, February 12, 2009

By 

CSS (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Crime (Louis Morgan Mysteries) (Paperback)

FYI: Le Crime is the 2008 paperback version of Peter Steiner's 2003 hardcover, A French Country Murder. Same book, different title.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read this before you retire to France, November 27, 2008

By 

Ken Tekell, Jr (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Crime (Louis Morgan Mysteries) (Paperback)

Over twenty years ago Louis Morgon resigned in disgrace as a State Department liason with the CIA as an expert in middle east policy. Having divorced his wife he has spent the last twenty years living alone in Saint Leon sur Deme, a small village in France. When a dead body turns up on his doorstep one morning he is confronted with the fact that "the sordid world" as he likes to call his former life, has finally caught up with him. Louis intuitively knows that the dead body is a message meant solely for him. He begins to investigate and is soon collaborating with the local police constable to learn why he is being targeted. Along the way we learn what happened to Louis so many years ago and why anyone cares about him now.

So that's the crime and the vehicle the author uses to take us on a trip through rural France. Peter Steiner is a gifted writer that brings the sights, sounds, smells and day to day life of the French countryside to life. It is an idealic setting that contrasts starkly the cutthroat and corrupt world of Washington politics. In order to put the personal threat to him to rest Louis must return to his former life and confront enemies he never knew he had.

The prose is smooth and powerful. The story is both nostalgic and viloent. An unusual combination makes for a terrific story of political intigue and revenge in a beautiful setting.