In the past I never would have said that I was put off by long books but it seems that nowadays I am. I had picked up City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg, all 900+ pages of it and just couldn’t be bothered having read the first chapter. Then I picked up The Stranger in the Seine and settled straight down into it and read it in one day over a couple of sittings.

A woman is pulled out of the Seine, naked and not making much sense. She is taken into custody but escapes because there are not enough staff to escort her to the hospital where she will be held. The detective Roxane Montchrestien has just been removed from her post and deposited in an out-of-the-way role looking into cases that have a bit of the paranormal about them when the woman in the Seine case lands in her lap. What looks like a fairly straightforward problem turns into a twisty tale with much more of a back story than is first made clear. The DNA evidence left by the woman when she escaped suggests that she was Mila Bergman, a pianist killed in an air crash over a year ago.

Montchrestien and her student working with her manage to find out a lot of information but eventually the case becomes so big that her old team take it on and she is back working with them, solving it. Montchrestien is interested in literature and a lot of the case swings around knowledge of Dionysus which is shared in the book.

I did think the translation left a bit to be desired. There were several points which grated. Parts were too informal and others were things we just don’t say such as someone being as ‘thick as a whale omelette’. I liked that the story was told from different points of view as we moved through it and that these voices changed more frequently as we neared the end point. Except that it wasn’t the end and that was so disappointing. It is left open in a way that can only be dealt with by writing another book.

A mixed feast. ( )

The Stranger in the Seine is a thriller by Guillaume Musso, who is a best selling writer in France. I enjoy reading books that are not mainstream fare here in the States, so I took a chance on this. Roxane Montchrestien has just been down graded from a leadership position in the French Police and is contemplating quitting entirely. She can’t help herself though when a mystifying case lands almost in her lap. She has to investigate, even if she has to do it on the down low. A nude young woman is rescued from the Seine river in Paris. She says she cannot remember who she is or where she comes from. When the police try to take her to the hospital for treatment, she promptly escapes. As Roxanne is contemplating quitting, the uniqueness of the case draws her once more into using her professional skills to try and solve the case and show up those who would have her out of the police for good. The story moves very swiftly taking us through the streets of Paris following a plot with many twists and unexpected turns. I was not completely satisfied with the ending, but to each his own. The book was provided for review by NovelSuspectsInsiders. ( )

In the current year, a young woman is found naked in the Seine, identified by DNA as famous pianist Milena Bergman with one complication. Milena Bergman was one of 178 victims in 2019 on a flight from Buenos Aires to Paris that sank off the coast of the Portuguese island Madeira. Recovered victims from the flight that, included Milena were identified by DNA. Which victim was the renowned German musician?

What a masterful storyteller! I was fascinated by reading this thriller that begins on December 21st and concludes on December 25th. The police investigation quickly revealed multiple mystery threads to discern the perpetrator and motive. I loved the blend of complexities of Greek mythology, the presence of a sister’s ghost, theater, literary and musician, and composition references, not to mention the frustration of closures or a lean workforce due to the holidays. Adding to the difference of scope, it seemed quite fitting that Captain Roxanne Montchrestien had been regulated to assignment at The Bureau of Unconventional Affairs (BUA), in essence working alone except for the assistance of a student from the Sorbonne writing her Ph.D. dissertation on the BUA.

If I had more extensive knowledge of Greek mythology, more of the literary and music references, and the city streets of Paris, my like (of 3 Stars) would sparkle in brilliance to extraordinary levels of reading pleasure (to 5+ Stars). The novel is remarkably created by mysteries within mysteries with no foreshadowing and a startling conclusion, not only effective but efficiently, the ultimate quintessential novelist. I was in awe.

I am grateful for the opportunity presented to arc readers, which automatically introduces authors new to me. My sincere appreciation to publishers far and wide, specifically to Little, Brown and Company and Novel Suspects, for the opportunity to read this novel. ( )

Histoire bizarre d’un jeune homme qui ment à son père pour se retrouver avec des personnages de Dyonisos ( )