Winner of the CWA International Dagger 2009.
This is the book that first introduces us to Jean Baptiste Adamsberg, a detective who works very much on his intuition. When objects start appearing inside chalk circles all over the streets of Paris he suspects there is something much more sinister going on than some kind of street art and when a dead body turns up in the next chalk circle it seems his suspicions were right. A great cast of quirky characters and a cleverly thought out plot make for a gripping read.
| Primary Genre | Thriller and Suspense |
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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 cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of all this his colleagues are forced to admit that he is highly successful – a born cop.
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: 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.
The Chalk Circle Man is the first book featuring Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, one of the most engaging characters in contemporary detective fiction.
The Chalk Circle Man features in the following genres: Thriller and Suspense, Crime and Mystery, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations
The Chalk Circle Man is available in Paperback
The Chalk Circle Man was written by Fred Vargas and published by Vintage
