Night-Scented [Paperback]

Anyone who has read Wasp-Waisted --what is taking shape as the first in a series of crime novels featuring Captain Franck Guerin of the Brigade Criminelle--knows that the former secret service agent lives on more than coffee alone. In Night-Scented, David Barrie's second book portraying the underbelly of a world of affluence and luxury in Paris, there is maybe even a stronger sense that Guerin's diligent prying is fueled by an appetite for people and places. Night-Scented reads like a sketch-book that offers up a generous slice of Parisian life, from the glitzy and intricate world of perfume to the more sober corporate machinery of high fashion and high finance; from the obscure and bloodless regiment of France's secret service, to the worn and plodding yet ultimately hard-working civil service of the quai d'Orfèvres; from the plush interiors of some of the city's prized architecture to the harsh exteriors where the city's homeless take up temporary residence. These settings are peopled by a host of characters whose outlines are well drawn throughout and Barrie's readers will recognize the author's penchant for scrupulous descriptions --some might say unnecessarily so-- of each and every character's attire. But to be fair, Barrie makes a very good stab at making the pyschology of his characters equally realistic and this is what makes it in part such a gripping read. As in the first novel, shadows from Guerin's past quickly emerge, suggesting ties with a prior entanglement whose circumstances --personal and private-- are only partially revealed. Similarly, any of the people that cross Guerin's path are expertly shown to be caught up in a dense web of mystery surrounding the deaths of key players in a bid to market the world's most exquisite perfume. In the process only a few choice details about the captain come to the surface, such as his incorrigibly shabby appearance and regretful habit of always forgetting his gloves, but thanks to his careful watchfulness, there is ample opportunity to observe the people on his beat and get a feel for their moral fibre. You find yourself believing in the foibles and strengths of the characters, regardless of the side of the crime on which they appear to stand. This is true whether they rank among the ambitious managers and scheming financiers, the eccentric and creative perfumers, the ideologically-driven eco-terrorists, some merely naive some dangerous or among society's cast-offs--the more colorful of these being the knowledgeable and sharp-witted Adeline, with her caddy chock full of newspapers. Barrie succeeds in giving us a taste of these characters without ever fully identifying their place along the moral divide, at least not until the very end. Indeed the mystery remains intact until the final pages, as does Guerin's seeming fascination for the way the battle between right and wrong is played out. Though thankfully Night-Scented bears no weighty message, the allusion to Les fables, the moral tales by de la Fontaine is a useful clue early on in the book: Barrie likes a good story, one that is designed to instruct and to delight. For the francophile or amoureux of Paris, there is certainly plenty to delight one's senses. Reading this book is like heading out on a promenade past some of the better known attractions of Paris (the Jardin de Luxembourg, the Invalides and the Alexandre III bridge, the nearby Fontainbleau forest) while learning something at the same time about some of the city's better hidden secrets (the André Critroen park, the hôtel Lambert or the architecture of Henri Sauvage). These desambulations thread together a fast-paced plot carried along by crisp transitions that invariably throw Guerin up against some kind of adversity--none of which ever seem to ruffle the nerves of the ever-placid captain. Drily humourous to the end, Barrie's uncompromising prose is matched by the forebearance of his leading investigator. It is telling that even the rare glimpses the novel affords of a softer, more whimiscal Guerin are invariably served up with Barrie's distinctive biting edge : "It was always heartening to find someone truly alive in the midst of a murder enquiry." Maybe a third installment in the Guerin series will tell us more? A cheerful prospect for this reader.

The events of 'Night-Scented' occur some months after the events of 'Wasp-Waisted'. Franck Guerin is still working for the Brigade Criminelle in Paris during his suspension from the DST. Out of the blue Guerin receives a call from one of the characters from 'Wasp-Waisted' - she has discovered a 'murdered guy in the corner of the room who stinks of chlorine' and once again Guerin is dragged into investigating a series of murders connected to the Parisian fashion houses. Once again Paris features as a major character, with the beauty and elegance of its streets and architecture juxtaposed with the world of the homeless and dispossessed who inhabit its streets and parks and sleep precariously perched between the girders of the Alexandre III bridge . The plot is well placed and, crucially for later books, we learn a little more about the Corsican Incident, the reason for Guerin's suspension, and its ramifications but not too much .

I enjoyed 'Wasp-Waisted', Barrie's debut novel which introduced us to Guerin but ,as I suspect that writing a second novel in a series is extremely difficult, I approached 'Night-Scented' with some caution and am pleased to report that Barrie has produced a fantastic follow up to his debut. I am very much looking forward to meeting Franck Guerin in his next outing.

David Barrie's second Franck Guerin detective novel Night-Scented picks up several months after the first book Wasp-waisted left off. Guerin is still on temporary assignment at the Brigade Criminelle, a Major Crimes Unit in Paris. He's settled in a little more but still fairly desperate to get back to his former employment in the DST, chasing eco-terrorists. It's not essential to read these two books in order by the way. There are no crucial spoilers. You will get a better introduction to some of the characters in Wasp-waisted though.
There's a picture of the Alexandre III bridge on the cover of Night-Scented. It's an elegant looking bridge, pretty in the lamplight and underneath run the dark waters of the Seine. Less pretty but also an important location in the book is the Mirabeau bridge. They do provide a very potent image of a place where two worlds cross each other.
Franck's current case involves the murder of several prominent business leaders that have some connection, through investment, to the development of a new perfume called Night-Scented. Also linked are a colony of homeless vagabonds who inhabit the underside of the Alexandre III bridge. I don't know how much of the bridge symbolism I picked up on is deliberate or just coincidence, though I tend to treat coincidences with the same caution as our detective. "I don't like coincidences," says Franck. "They make me uneasy."
Barrie continues to impress with his descriptions of various locations in Paris, often off the beaten tourist path. His portrayal of the sometimes confusing world of big business is also very assured and authentic. We at last learn a little more about the infamous Corsican operation that was introduced in the first book as the reason for Franck's enforced secondment, though Franck remains, as far as his history goes, still a man of mystery. The narrative style, I suppose, doesn't really lend itself to flashbacks. I don't think we even make it back to his apartment this time round. Perhaps giving Franck too much history would add unnecessary baggage to the plot, which is a complex one. The characters are well drawn and their motives and psychology are well thought out. I like how with a line, a statement or detail the ground can shift under our feet and our line of inquiry has to turn to a new or previously discarded suspect. It all makes for a very pleasing and stylish detective/thriller experience.