"Crimes of Winter" is the third book in French author Phillippe Georget's Inspector Sebag series, set in Perpignan, a small French city north of Barcelona, Spain. The story begins with Gilles Sebag rifling through a lady's purse in the hope of gaining access to her phone and securing absolute proof of her infidelity to her husband of twenty plus years. But as the old joke goes, Gilles might proclaim "that's no lady, that's my wife". And therein lies the theme of this 368 page book, wives' marital infidelity and the cuckholded husband's reaction to it. Along the way there is murder, suicide, a rescue(?) scene involving Gilles and an angered husband and a seemingly guilty wife and a gasoline saturated living room, and a car chase. All of which gives you some idea of how French men react to their wives' infidelities, i.e. not calmly.

But it is an interesting story with an unusual plot, eerily similar to a recent case in Massachusetts where a young woman was found guilty of assisting in the suicide of a friend by encouraging him over the phone. The characters are many, interesting and well developed; they will be easily remembered by the reader from one book in the series to the next. The writing is well-done. It's a whodunit that will keep the reader guessing until the very end. And lots of interesting food and wine of course. Our protagonist is caught up in his own infidelity situation so as his teammates struggle to understand motivations for the case under investigation, Gilles is also attempting to resolve his own personal case and understand it. Perpignan is a real city with real places and street names so the reader can have a close look via Google Maps, Bing Images, etc. I also enjoyed the scenes involving the video camera center where a small city security force controlled the operations.

But it's not without some negatives, mostly minor things. Annoyances. Some of the dialog feels like its copied from American film noir of the 1940's. "My name is Sebag. Gilles Sebag." "Whatever you say, copper." Copper? Copper? And there's: "Bring him to me here right now and I'll make him talk". C'mon, nobody talks like that anymore since George Raft died in 1980. And then there are those wonderful little pearls of wisdom that only the French can toss out. Here's my favorite: "love without sexual exclusivity was perhaps true love"... What?! Says who? Explain that to me.....at least that was my reaction, but as I recall characters in this story just accepted the little maxim as gospel. And as a final example, can you really hear someone gulp?

But there is one significant flaw for me - I don't like Sebag. He goes on and on about his own problem to the point where it bored me. He was just too annoying for me, and not in an endearing way. I wanted to belt him in the chops and scream "Man up!" Admittedly though I'm glad I read "Crimes of Winter" and I recommend it as something "typically French", my perception. I won't read other Sebag novels. ( )

Crimes of Winter - Philippe Georget
(Third in the Inspector Gilles Sebag series).
Crimes of Winter is a very good police procedural. Strong on character, with an original take on a familiar topic - the 'crime of passion'. This intriguing mix of personal and crime story, both deeply intertwined, is seamlessly worked. More than just a thriller this is a solid commentary about a topical issue for society.
Lieutenant Gilles Sebag lives in Perpignan. It should be a quiet seaside town - nothing could be further from the truth. Sebag is preoccupied with his wife Claire's infidelity. With brutal, if loving, honesty Claire tells Gilles the truth. He is devastated, unable to concentrate and he is drinking too much. There is an outbreak of that most Gallic of crimes - the 'crime passionnel', (a common defence against a murder charge in the past), violent incidents and even a murder. Christine (47) is married, her lover Éric makes her feel twenty again, the touch of his hands exhilarates her, she is happy. The lovers meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Hôtel du Gecko. After a lunchtime liaison, as Christine dresses there is a knock at the door. The gunman barely gives Christine time to register his intent before shooting her through the heart. The last case Sebag needs is a crime of passion, the parallels to his own life are just too close to home. The husband has to be the murderer but the evidence is inconsistent, something deeper is going on. A suicide and a hostage situation follow in quick succession. Christmas is coming but the bonhomie of the season is nowhere to be seen.
Georget is one of finest exponents of modern French crime fiction. A true heir of George Simenon. Georget's style of story telling has longevity, grounded in reality, distinguished by its depth and intelligence. No pyrotechnics just good story telling.
Crimes of Winter dwells in dark territory but is ultimately upbeat. Sebag's marriage problems are a means of deconstructing the psychology of the crimes in the novel. The story is a fascinating take infidelity. The 'crime passionnel', (committed in the heat of the moment), is no longer regarded as an easy excuse in law. Yet infidelity or an affair is often the motivation for violence. Crimes of Winter explores the sham of infidelity as an excuse for domestic violence, the hurt of the injured partner, the emotional and physical strain on the people involved and the way in which people come to terms with betrayal. Or beyond reason - the disastrous aftermath of violent crime. The men and women of the police force bring their own personal experience to their understanding of the crimes. There are moments of profound observation, a private detective comments;
"A jealous husband can be reassured only by proving to him that he was right to be jealous".
Sebag is forced to confront his own pain, he is a likeable character, a man who can be trusted, essentially honest. He is a good policeman with an instinct for investigation and an understanding of the criminal mind but in Crimes of Winter he is off his game. He is in pain suffering from an alcohol fuelled depression clouding his judgement. He needs to think, he needs time away from the family but Christmas is coming. The relationship between Sebag and his wife and the process of coming to terms with their problems is as fascinating as the crimes themselves. He has the respect of his colleagues and the faith of his bosses and even now Sebag's intuition is invaluable.
Georget does not have Simenon's love of brevity but Crimes of Winter is tight and to the point, it may be over 400 pages long but the intensity is maintained all the way through.
Europa Editions have consistently published some of the best fiction in translation over the last ten years, (Elena Ferrante, Parisa Reza, Boualem Sansal). More recently their 'World Noir' series has focused on crime writers from around the globe that deserve an English speaking audience, (Maurizio de Giovanni, Caryl Férey, Carlo Lucarelli, Massimo Carlotto). Georget fits right in and this is the third of his Gilles Sebag thrillers following on from; 'Summertime and All the Cats are Bored', 2013 and 'Autumn and All the Cats Return', 2014. The first dealing with the death of a Dutch tourist and the second a French-Algerian veteran - of course they are about so much more. For me Crimes of Winter is the best of Georget's novels to date and a thoroughly enjoyable read. ( )