Madrigal by
J.Robert Janes
hbk out October 99
Published by Gollancz
at £16.99
Atmosphere is everything in this thriller stroke whodunit. Combining a strong plot with the historical setting of wartime France the need to get it just right is so important. Like Philip Kerr’s ‘Berlin Noir’ books this has the feel for the times and an eye for the fine detail of a country at war whilst at the same time trying to carry on as ‘normal’. In this way it is absorbing. A further comparison with James McClure’s Krammer and Zondi books (set in South Africa) is also worth making because not only does Janes take you to a strange place but he also manages to place two seemingly incompatible characters in close proximity to each other and make them believable and well realised. In this case it is Jean-Louis St-Cyr of the Surêté and Oberdetektiv Hermann Kohler of the Gestapo. In other words there is a lot to recommend this without even mentioning the sex and drugs angle. This is the fifth in the series and Janes has written many others but this is the first time I’ve come across him. Based on this I’ll be checking out others.
Madrigal by
J.Robert Janes