The Body by the Sea: A Brittany Mystery

by Jean-Luc Bannalec

Overview

In all of Commissaire Georges Dupin’s time living in Brittany, there has never been a murder on his home turf, until now, in Jean-Luc Bannalec's The Body by the Sea.

A town on the sea, Concarneau’s nickname is Ville Bleue, or the Blue Town. With three harbors at its center, visitors can see enormous ships, sailors, fishermen, and the industry that goes alongside it. Because of its geographical location, Concarneau has shown it’s perfectly positioned to protect its inhabitants from enemy attacks.

For this reason and more, including his favorite restaurant, the Amiral, Commissaire Georges Dupin calls this town home. Most of his colleagues are on vacation for the Pentecost long weekend, but Dupin remains. His future in-laws are coming to visit.

But what happens when an enemy attacks from within? Dupin’s plans as host must change when the body of Doctor Chaboseau is discovered. Chaboseau fell to his death, pushed from his home above the Amiral. With only two new colleagues to help—no one else is answering their phone—Dupin is tasked with finding out what happened to the doctor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250322357
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/23/2024
Series:	Commissaire Dupin Series , #8
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Internationally bestselling author JEAN-LUC BANNALEC lives in Germany and the southerly region of the French département of Finistère. In 2016 he was given the award ‘Mécène de Bretagne.’ Since 2018 he has been an honorary member of the Académie littéraire de Bretagne. The New York Times has praised of his Brittany mysteries, "Delicious... if this isn't heaven, it's close enough." Bannalec is the author of Death in Brittany, Murder on Brittany Shores, The Fleur de Sel Murders, The Missing Corpse, The Killing Tide, The Granite Coast Murders, The King Arthur Case, The Body By the Sea (named one of Washington Post's "Ten Best Mystery Novels of the Year"), Death of a Master Chef, and An Island of Suspects.

Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post – One of the Best Mystery Novels of the Year

“An excellent addition to an already superb series. . . a treat to read. . . This is one of Bannalec’s best.” –The Globe and Mail (Canada)

“The tight-wound puzzle is half the pleasure Bannalec offers. The other half is the gorgeous Breton sea.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Intoxicating. . . Bennalec smoothly blends the beauty and charm of the region into the whodunit plot. Readers will be ready to pack their bags and head to Brittany by the end of this one.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A feast: an intricate case, a surprising ending and a tour of gorgeous Brittany, France, along the way.” –BookPage

Praise for the Commissaire Georges Dupin Series

"Delicious Brittany mysteries... If this isn't heaven, it's close enough." —The New York Times

“[Bannalec] lets his love and knowledge of Brittany shine through in his books.” —The Washington Post

“Perfect for fans of Louise Penny or Mark Pryor.” —Shelf Awareness

“A healthy chunk of Brittany with a bracing dash of murder."—Kirkus Reviews

“The descriptions of Brittany are mesmerizing. It has been elevated into my top 10 places I need to visit, all thanks to Bannalec.” —BookPage (starred review)

“[Bannalec’s] mysteries are both well-crafted and impossible to read without wanting to use them as guides for future trips to the region.” —Booklist (starred review)

From the Publisher

2023-03-11
Murder comes to Concarneau.

Commissaire Georges Dupin has much on his mind. Renovations have made conditions in the police station intolerable. So although Kadeg, his other inspector, is on paternity leave, Dupin allows Inspector Riwal to take his family to Belle-Île for a few days. Even his assistant, Nolwenn, gets fed up with the dust and dirt and heads for the hills, quite literally, on a bike tour of the oldest pubs in Brittany. Dupin himself is ready to take time off to spend Pentecost with his companion Claire’s parents. But these plans get tossed out the window—again, quite literally—when he’s called to investigate the death of Dr. Pierre Chaboseau, whose wife found him dead in the courtyard after he fell from their apartment on the upper floor of the same building housing the Amiral, Dupin’s favorite restaurant. The outrage of a crime committed not only in his adopted province of Brittany, but in Concarneau, the very town he chose as his home after having been banished from Paris, is too much. Claire will have to show her parents the town on her own. Dupin scares up Rosa Le Menn and Iris Nevou, two young policewomen, to pitch in for his missing inspectors, puts in a frantic call to Nolwenn, and sets out to find the general practitioner’s killer. Since Chaboseau was a sharp businessman with a finger in many pies, there are plenty of suspects to choose from. But as the web grows more extensive and diffuse, it’s a tip from the late Georges Simenon, whose novel The Yellow Dog was set in Concarneau, that leads the latter-day Georges to solve a crime with deep Breton roots.

The tight-wound puzzle is half the pleasure Bannalec offers. The other half is the gorgeous Breton sea.

Kirkus Reviews