At your service
Toronto publisher with Quebec roots, Nita Prose (real surname Pronovost) plunges, for her first novel, into the current wave of the neuroatypical character. Here, the maid of The maid. Her name is Molly. She works in a big hotel where, for the bosses, she is the model employee. She applies the rules without discussion, she is discreet, she is valiant. Too bad if his work colleagues don’t appreciate his robotic zeal, his total lack of humor, his inability to “read” behaviors. And one fine morning, Molly finds the wealthy Mr. Black dead an unnatural death in a bedroom. Soon suspected of murder, she finds herself investigating, in the company of her “friends” (note the quotation marks). A ” cozy mystery » which seduces, not by its plot (all in all quite simple), but by its endearing main character, its exploration of the backstage of the luxury hotel industry and its atmosphere halfway between a good old Colombo and a brand new Only Murders in the Building.
Sonia Sarfati
The maid
★★★
Nita Prose, translated from English (Canada) by Estelle Roudet, Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 2022, 428 pages
Cubs and ogres
Julie Ewa, author of The little girlscontinue, with purple jungleto dig this furrow of ethno-polar thanks to which she puts forward knowledge acquired in the field and her social concerns concerning girls – often the first victims of religious fervor, violence, poverty. purple jungle takes place in Kotanak, on the island of Sumatra, and opens with Dea, 11, a runaway, recruited by Aron, protector of a group of street children. Aron who was, not so long ago, a member of a powerful gang. The question arises: does he really protect the little ones or does he exploit them? This is what Angka, a policeman whose personal life is (of course) going down the drain, is asking for. Carried by moving characters (Dea who becomes Dio to join the group of boys, Aron the streetboy in halftones but also Rendy the ladyboy), this novel finds its strength in what it denounces (injustice, radicalization, environmental crimes, corruption) more than in the investigation aspect. But hey, for that, there are always Nordic thrillers!
Sonia Sarfati
purple jungle
★★★ 1/2
Julie Ewa, Albin Michel, Paris, 2022, 376 pages
Spanish maze
In quick succession, three kidnappings: the judge, the defense lawyer and the star witness of the trial after which a man was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife. Better still: we know the culprit from the end of the first chapter! An old man who has nothing more to lose, the father of the condemned man who, convinced that his son has been trapped, demands the resumption of the investigation, threatening otherwise to kill the three hostages. In charge of the case, Inspector Indira Ramos has one month to resolve her personal phobias and complete the investigation. She won’t be able to get the old man to talk — besides, is he right to believe his son is innocent? —, but she will manage with her team to shed light on this story, all in trompe-l’oeil where the true and the false never ring quite right. An astonishing talent as a writer, a labyrinthine plot flown over by a policewoman that we want to see again and characters rendered in all their complexity by a solid translation. To be read with a glass of Spanish rosé…
Michael Belair
the good father
★★★ 1/2
Santiago Diaz, translated from Spanish by Thomas Dangoumau, Le Cherche midi “Thriller”, Paris, 2022, 427 pages
Still the Trojan War
Providence, Rhode Island, and the small remote villages of the surroundings. Times are getting tougher economically, but the docks are still controlled by the Irish through the “syndicate”. And the Italians administer everything else on the outskirts. Two families: the Murphys and the Morettis, who run their small business by practicing the usual regime of brown envelopes, cops that we cultivate and politicians that we “finance”. Between all these beautiful people who have known each other since early school, there is harmony. Or almost. Until the Helen of Troy appears which will set fire to the powder. Beyond the bluster of ill-bred boys who think they can do anything and who will soon start killing each other, a character stands out for his righteousness, even if the term is bizarre: Danny Ryan. It is he who we see losing everything, but who manages to come out of this bloody war alive. And it is probably him that we will also find in the sequel to what Winslow presents as an ancient three-part tragedy. Interesting and definitely worth following.
Michael Belair
The city in flames
★★★
Don Winslow, translated from English (United States) by Jean Esch, Harper Collins “Black”, Paris, 2022, 392 pages/em>