Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas

Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery

Newly transferred from his home in the Pyrenees to Paris, 45-year-old Adamsberg arrives with a reputation for solving big cases, though his diffident manner doesn't impress his colleague and foil, Adrien Danglard. A solitary man drawing blue chalk circles at night around stray objects in Paris streets manages to create a media sensation, but Adamsberg senses evil behind the act. When the corpse of a woman is found encircled in chalk, he's proven right. Adamsberg's indirect approach, his ability to sense cruelty and to let solutions percolate to the surface make him one of the more intriguing police detectives in a long time.

I really enjoyed this book and am so glad that they finally translated it into English. The rest of the series have been translated except for this one. Go figure!?! This book reminds me of Hercule Poirot in some ways as it is much more cerebral feel than the police procedural it is portrayed. The outside characters are interesting and I found myself thinking about them after I finished the book. Danglard - a single father raising two sets of twins! You get a little bit of his home life and it really intrigued me and made wish there was more info about his life.

Funny story about how I got this book. I read about this series and it mentioned that this was the first book but it was the 6th one translated and came out June 30, 2009. So of course my local library does not own it. Since I was attending the American Library Association in Chicago in July I hunted down the Penguin publisher's book and they had one copy left and let me buy it for $5. Since it is an oversized paperback worth $14, I scored a deal! Then while I was waiting in line to win something at the Demco book they covered the cover with that stiff plastic so it is almost like a hardback now.