Have Mercy on Us All: A Novel (Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries) [Paperback]

Fred Vargas (Author)

Book Description

Series: Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

In a small Parisian square, the ancient tradition of the town crier continues into modern times. The self-appointed crier, Joss Le Guern, reads out the daily news, snippets of gossip, and lately, ominous messages -- placed in his handmade wooden message box by an anonymous source -- that warn of an imminent onset of the bubonic plague.

Concerned, Le Guern brings the puzzling notes to the bumbling but brilliant Chief Inspector Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and his straight-edged, right-hand man, Adrien Danglard. When strange signs that were historically believed to ward off the black death start to appear on the doors of several buildings, Adamsberg takes notice and suspects a connection with Le Guern's warnings. After a flea-bitten corpse with plague-like symptoms is found in one of the marked buildings, Fred Vargas's inimitable genius chief inspector is under pressure to solve the mystery and restore calm to a panicked Paris. But is it a real case of the bubonic scourge, or just a sinister trick designed to frighten as the body count grows and the culprit continues to elude the police?

Peopled with charming and eccentric Gallic characters, and packed with gripping historical detail, Have Mercy on Us All is a complex, surprising, and stylish tale from France's finest mystery writer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A bestseller in France, Vargas's U.S. debut presents a riveting blend of biothriller and historical cryptology: it takes a close look at the threat of bubonic plague to modern-day Paris. Joss Le Guern is a merchant seaman who, following the wreck of his ship and the end of his career, has strung an improvised mailbox onto a tree and taken to reading aloud local news left for him there thrice daily in the streets of Paris; he sees himself as a modern town crier. When odd, apocalyptic warnings begin coming in regularly, intrigued listener Hervé Decambrais does some research and finds they match medieval texts that predicted the coming of the Black Death. Meanwhile, backward 4s begin appearing on apartment doors. At first, Chief Inspector Adamsberg (a comically forgetful, yet thoughtful and decisive character) and his deputy dismiss the markings as graffiti, but when they discover that the symbol was once used in parts of Europe to protect people against the plague and correlate with Joss's reports, the detective work intensifies—though not fast enough. This exciting and careful whodunit is well-executed, page-turning crime fiction—until its surprise but somewhat anticlimactic ending. (Nov. 3)
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From Booklist

Vargas, a best-selling crime writer in France whose works have been translated into many languages, makes her belated U.S. debut with this beguiling mix of old and new. Her hero, Commissaire Adamsberg of the Paris police, an eccentric, bumbling, and wildly intuitive investigator in the Maigret mold, brings a charming old-school veneer to a decidedly contemporary, even noirish, story involving the possibility that the Black Death has returned to the City of Lights. Adamsberg learns of the threat through the strong voice of Joss Le Guern, a modern-day Parisian town crier who shouts the news from a Montparnasse street corner. As the story unfolds, Vargas combines fascinating details about the history of the plague with a character-rich look at street life in a working-class neighborhood. French mysteries tend to either imitate Maigret or react against him by stripping their characters down to the hard-boiled bone; here's a series that celebrates eccentricity in its characters but forces them to live in an utterly uncozy world. More Vargas would be very welcome. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 353 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Original edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743284011
• ISBN-13: 978-0743284011
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong French police procedural thriller, October 25, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Have Mercy on Us All: A Novel (Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries) (Paperback)

Over fourteen years ago, Joss Le Guern complained to the ship owner that the vessel he captained Nor'easter was unsafe. He was told he is to do his job or someone else will. The ship breaks apart; an angry Joss survives and breaks the leg of the owner. Joss is convicted of assault and battery and attempted murder; he spends nine months in prison and his sailing career is over.

After spending the next seven years as a drunk, Joss becomes a Parisian town crier. For the past seven years, three times a day he collects messages from his box and calls out the news. However, the message he finds this time claims the Black Death is coming. He takes the note to Chief Inspector Adamsberg, who assumes a hoax is being played on the crier; that opinion changes when he and his subordinate Danglard notice "hex" signs used during the Middle Ages to ward off the disease appearing on doors and a corpse that displays the symptoms of the Plague. Adamsberg takes the threats seriously hoping to stop the Black Death from devastating Paris.

HAVE MERCY ON US is a strong translation of a French police procedural thriller. Once Adamsberg realizes the biological terror is potentially real, the pace never slows down. Joss is a terrific character struggling as all whistleblowers seem to dio when they act courageously and challenge authority for behaving illegal or amoral, but in his case guilt leaves him a shadow of himself until now. Adamsberg and Danglard are terrific cops confronting a lethal unknown enemy with no time to spare. Fred Vargas writes a strong thriller that translates quite nicely into a one-sitting adrenalin read.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great character-driven mystery with a few translation mishaps, February 4, 2009

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Have Mercy on Us All (Hardcover)

First Sentence: When manie woormes breede of putrefaction of the earth: toade stooles and rotten herbes abount: The fruites and beastes of the earth are unsavoury: The wine becomes muddie: mannie birds and beastes flye from that place

Joss Le Guern was a sailor but has taken up his great-great-grandfather's profession of being a town crier. Hervé Decambrais was a teacher of history but now has a house in Paris in which he lets out four rooms, for rent or for favor. Commissaire Principal Adamsberg may not be able to remember anyone's name or maintain his relationship with his lover, Camille, but he has just been promoted to head of the murder squad in Paris. Adrian Danglard is shaped like a pear and the single father of five children, but his is Adamsberg loyal right-hand man.

Between the four of them, they must idenfity who is leaving strange notes, identified as taken from old texts threatening the coming of the plague, leaving them in the town crier's box, painting reverse 4s on doors, signifying protection from the plague, and killing people.

Written in French by Ms. Fred Vargas and translated, sometimes rather awkwardly, into Queen's English, I so enjoyed this book. Map lovers take note: there are three wonderful maps included in the book.

The collection of characters is quirky and interesting. "Normal" people need not apply. Yet it is those characters who bring this story to life and make it so wonderful to read. They are created slowly and with gentle irony by Ms. Vargas. This is definitely a character-driven story. That's not to say the plot isn't well done.

The plot is clever and believable with some good suspense. I certainly learned more about the history of the plague on the continent.

In spite of the translation gaffes--I understand they changed translators after book two--I really enjoyed this book. I do want to read more in this series.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting historical mystery, February 21, 2007

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Dennis J. Mcguckian (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Have Mercy on Us All: A Novel (Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries) (Paperback)

Both my wife and I really enjoyed this book. Very interesting characters and a bit of a history lesson thrown in we highly recommend it for a change of pace.