Die Nacht des Zorns by Fred Vargas

I kind of feel like I’m showing off by using this book for the challenge, but I was trying to use books I already had as much as possible and this was the only one I hadn’t already read that fit the category “Read a book that was first released in a language that is not your native language”. It was originally written in French under the title L’armée furieuse, and I read it in German (the German version of the title translates to “the night of wrath” by the way). It was a birthday gift from my boss, which is why it was in German. If I buy translations myself it’s usually into English! The title of the English translation is The Ghost Riders of Ordebec, in case anyone is interested.

The plot:
As the chief of police in Paris’s seventh arrondissement, Commissaire Adamsberg has no jurisdiction in Ordebec. Yet, he cannot ignore a widow’s plea. Her daughter Lina has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. With them were four men. According to the thousand-year-old legend, the vision means that the men will soon die a grisly death, and now one of them is missing. Despite initial scepticism, Adamsberg heads to Ordebec to see what’s happening. When the missing man turns up dead, he agrees to investigate and is soon embroiled in the mysteries of the village.

My review:
Apparently, this is the ninth book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series. So far, it’s the only one I’ve read, and I have to say straight off that one of the things that annoyed me about this book was all the footnotes pointing out in which previous novel I could read all about an event that was briefly mentioned. I checked the footnote every time in case it had something to say that was relevant to the plot, but nope… just another book title. Grr!

However, that said, I did really enjoy the book. I guessed the “twist” ending about halfway through, but it didn’t matter because by that time I’d fallen in love with the characters and wanted to read to the end. The plot was sometimes a bit far-fetched and, as I’ve mentioned, I guessed whodunnit before it was revealed, but it was a fun book to while away my commute with. One negative point is that I felt Fred Vargas tried to cram too much into the book – Adamsberg’s team was also investigating another murder alongside the Ordebec mystery and the two storylines together felt like a bit much for one book (although I’m sure it happens in real life). I’m now considering buying the first book in the series for some more background on Adamsberg and his quirky group of colleagues. 4 stars for this one.

Since I read this book in German, it also counts towards the German reading category of my 35 before 35 challenge.

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