Death In the Truffle Wood [Paperback]

Pierre Magnan (Author), Patricia Clancy (Translator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (August 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099470225
• ISBN-13: 978-0099470229
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,347,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not So Charming, March 12, 2009

By 

Sarah Shafer (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death in the Truffle Wood (Commissaire LaViolette Mystery) (Paperback)

Having read the blurbs and reviews calling this book delightful, charming, and pastoral, I expected something... different. A bit more genteel, perhaps. So with the early introduction of a band of hippies who are stereotypically and quite literally filthy and constantly high on pot, I was a bit taken aback. Not exactly what I thought I'd see in picturesque Provence, but then, the hippies are all foreigners and haven't been in the area long when we come into the story.

When it comes to the villagers themselves, we do get a bit of the promised charm, though interestingly enough, the most sympathetic characters are a pig and a dog. Human-wise, however, I don't like Magnan's treatment of women, as most of them are characterized in terms of their swaying hips, amazing eyes, and effect on men, and are made out to be petty and jealous in their relationships with other women. I suppose one could disregard these as being quirks of the women populating this particular village, but what really left a bad taste in my mouth was a description of an incident that could be seen as attempted rape, and for fighting off her would-be attacker and then threatening him should he try to touch her again, a woman is thought to have gone "a bit far."

All this aside, the mystery was fine enough, and I would likely rate the novel higher were it not for what must be poor translating or shoddy editing, as a previous reviewer noted. There are several passages that make little sense, though I don't know where exactly the blame should be placed.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Lost in translation", July 24, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death in the Truffle Wood (Hardcover)

Death in the Truffle Wood, by French writer Pierre Magnan, is loaded with delightfully eccentric characters and an even more delightfully eccentric plot. This book puts me in mind of Twin Peaks, an equally eccentric TV evening mystery/drama popular sometime in the late 1980's or early 90's.

However, I wasn't a fan of Twin Peaks and I'm really not much of a fan of Death in the Truffle Wood either. It's not that there aren't some charming moments--for example the truffle seeker Alyre Morelon's fondness for his truffle-finding pig Roseline is both sweet and poignant. And when a doting husband discovers his material-girl wife really does love him--the scene is truly touching. But there simply isn't enough to love.

I spent the entire time reading the book wondering what was wrong. I enjoy both Mystery Theatre and Masterpiece Theatre on PBS, so I'm used to working a little for my entertainment. And I readily accept the fact that I won't understand all the cross-cultural references. Still in all, the book simply didn't work for me.

I reread the first forty pages twice and still wasn't engaged. And the rest of the book wasn't any better. I took a second and even third look at passage after passage trying to make things fit but I never seemed to quite grasp what was being written. The pronouns seemed obscure and the references vague. An enigma wrapped in a mystery!

I am happy to say though that my own astute powers of observation have prevailed. Death in the Truffle Wood, although written by Pierre Magnan has been translated from the original French by Patricia Clancy--which incidentally is not mentioned on the cover. Even though I can't be positive that translation is the problem I do believe it's highly likely. I suggest you should either read it in French or Monsieur Magnan should find a new translator.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than some of the reviewers seemed to think, July 11, 2010

By 

Mary H. Lesser "doc lesser" (Valdese, NC) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Death in the Truffle Wood (Commissaire LaViolette Mystery) (Paperback)

Unlike other readers who wrote reviews I was gripped from the start and had a hard time putting this down. Loved the characters and the atmosphere. Will look forward to reading the next one.