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David Barrie (2)

Auteur de Wasp-waisted

Pour les autres auteurs qui s'appellent David Barrie, voyez la page de désambigüisation.

6 oeuvres 42 utilisateurs 16 critiques

Séries

Œuvres de David Barrie

Wasp-waisted (2009) 12 exemplaires
Loose-limbed (2011) 10 exemplaires
Night-Scented (2010) 9 exemplaires
Hard-hearted (2012) 6 exemplaires
Tight-Lipped (2014) 4 exemplaires

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Tight-Lipped is the fifth detective novel to feature Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle from the pen of David Barrie. It's a good two years since I shared a few expressos with Franck and I was beginning to think I'd seen the last of him. But like all good detectives they always turn up when you aren't expecting them. In fact it's Franck who is rudely awakened in the middle of the night and whisked off to a location somewhere rural, without so much as a few moments to bolt back his ritual morning expresso. His old job has come back to haunt him as the DCRI (counter espionage/terrorism), led by his old boss the steely chain smoking Catherine Vautrin, try to close in on eco-terrorist Grabriel Agostini, an elusive character who doesn't flinch at murder to advance his ideals and whose escape four years ago at the infamous Corsican Incident resulted in Franck's forced career change. Agostini is nowhere to be seen but the scene of the tip-off is found to be occupied by famed intellectual Jean-Jacques Marsay, who it turns out is writing a book about the terrorist and his organisation. On returning to Paris Franck is called to a murder scene with Marsay's editor Virginie Desmoulins, lying in a pool of her own blood and tied to her bed.
As ever the investigation follows Franck's gathering of the threads that connect the victims and their potential killers. Franck isn't one for car chases or gratuitous action scenes, instead he meets for probing conversations in Paris' multitude of cafes, empty expresso cup already cooling at his elbow, as he seeks out the chinks in everyone's armour, collecting secrets and contradictions like ammunition for the fight. Agostini has lurked in the background of several of Frank's investigations in the past but none so much as this one. Franck's search for Virginie's killer brings him into territory that Vautrin and her DCRI occupy, but with both parties believing that their own target takes precedence inter-departmental cooperation isn't to the fore.
The intellectual world of Marsay, his voice and philosophies come across well, which isn't always the case when an author creates a character who is supposedly more intellectual than themselves. France treats its philosophers and big thinkers differently than many cultures, giving them status and veneration akin to celebrities elsewhere. It makes for an interesting background for the investigation with Marsay's notoriety overlapping his wife's profile in the French film industry as a respected actress and the inner workings of the publishing world behind Marsay's upcoming controversial book.
Barrie's plot is intricate enough to keep folk guessing until the 'pages remaining' grows thin. Though the clues are all there if you backtrack. Apart from Franck's official team working under the judicial eye of Yves de Chaumont, he sometimes consults Sylvie Thomas on matters with a monetary factor, finance and big business being one of the detective's blind spots. And Sonia Delemazure, a model, usually turns up, sometimes with a troop. Think the antithesis of the Baker Street Irregulars with an access all areas pass to the high and the famous. She also has some of the lighter scenes with Franck as we learn the level of knowledge he has of bras and his proficiency at Pétanque (a type of Boules).
The strengths of the previous books are all there as usual; strong sense of place, good characterisation and intelligent plotting. Paris is brought alive throughout with the backstreets and nooks featuring just as much as the tourist traps.
Tight-Lipped is out in paperback in October 2014. If you pick up a copy fire up the expresso machine, and find a quiet spot but just remember.... don't try to keep up with Franck.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
Finxy | Aug 10, 2014 |
The fourth book in Barrie's Franck Guerin series. The body of a beautiful and expensively dressed young woman is discovered lying in the street, holding a rare book wrapped in a beautiful and expensive scarf. She's quickly identified as a hotshot professor of literature at the Sorbonne and the girlfriend of a wealthy hedge fund manager.

Guerin is quickly drawn into the cut throat and equally murky worlds of high finance and academia as he tries to discover just who would have a motive for murder. Along the way Barrie feeds us just a little more of Guerin's backstory and his childhood.

Guerin is a likeable and interesting character and Barrie's books are always enjoyable and informative. I'm very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
… (plus d'informations)
½
 
Signalé
riverwillow | 1 autre critique | Jul 8, 2012 |
Review from Badelynge
A beautiful woman lies in the middle of the road stabbed through the heart, an eighteenth-century book clutched in her hand and wrapped in a bloodstained hand-stitched silk shawl.
Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle is soon on the scene, making a welcome fourth outing in David Barrie's intricate Parisian and decidedly noirish detective series.
In the past the novels have been characterised by Franck having to immerse himself in a specialised aspect of Parisian society that he knows absolutely nothing about. Previously he's had to become an unlikely student in the rarefied worlds of lingerie connoisseurs, luxury perfumers and elite ballet dancers but in Hard-Hearted the author breaks the formula.Which is a good thing considering the main suspects are deeply imbedded in the world of high finance. Franck's very deliberate refusal to engage or try to decipher the mechanics of the trading machinations going on is the source of some of the more humourous exchanges. A scene where Sylvie boils it all down for him in a room wallpapered with diagrams is a standout.
In contrast the other area that Franck's investigation leads is one of academia, specifically French eighteenth-century literature and even more specifically the ancient book found in the victim's hand; The Tales of Madame de Villeneuve, Volume one. It's the first part of a story that would eventually be rehashed and made famous by another writer and renamed Beauty and the Beast. David Barrie gets lots of mileage thematically and philosophically from some of the symbolism that can be drawn from the ancient fairy tale, weaving them through his plot, the characters and even perhaps Paris itself, as Franck's investigation, in between the posh frocks and lavish soirees, takes him to the city's seamier side.
I like Franck. He's got a wry sense of humour, he's very easy to relate to and best of all he's ever present in the narrative. He's still a man without much in the way of history though, beyond his previous employment fighting eco-terrorists, so it was a bit of a shock to finally meet his father, though the youth of Franck Guerin remains heavily veiled.
With everyone scrambling to be the one who discovers the next big euro-noir these days you could do worse than give Franck Guerin a try. They also have the benefit of not being fed through the literary tea strainer of translation as they 're written in English. And they keep on getting better as the author hones his style. I look forward to the next one.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
Finxy | 1 autre critique | Jul 4, 2012 |
This is a beautifully written book that gently draws you in to the world of Captain Guerin. I found the descriptive writing of the opening scene mesmerising and have now read this book 3 times already! Although number three in the series you do not need to have read the first two books to appreciate this one (I haven't - although I will be soon.)

I would recommend this to anybody interested in modern crime fiction - infact, I have already arranged to lend my member giveaway copy to several people.… (plus d'informations)
½
 
Signalé
lizlupton | 4 autres critiques | Apr 4, 2011 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
6
Membres
42
Popularité
#357,757
Évaluation
4.1
Critiques
16
ISBN
28
Langues
3