Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. His methods appear unorthodox in the extreme: he doesn't search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of all this his colleagues are forced to admit that he is highly successful - a born cop.When strange blue chalk circles start appearing overnight on the pavements of Paris, the press take up the story with amusement and psychiatrists trot out their theories. Adamsberg is alone in thinking this is not a game and far from amusing. He insists on being kept informed of new circles and the increasingly bizarre objects which they contain: a pigeon's foot, four cigarette lighters, a badge proclaiming 'I Love Elvis', a hat, a doll's head. Adamsberg senses the cruelty that lies behind these seemingly random occurrences. Soon a circle with decidedly less banal contents is discovered: the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut. Adamsberg knows that other murders will follow. "The Chalk Circle Man" is the first book featuring Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, one of the most engaging characters in contemporary detective fiction.
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`a hugely entertaining murder mystery...a truly original take on the crime novel'. -- The Bookseller
"The wonderful Commissaire Adamsberg novels by... Fred Vargas have been runaway successes in Britain." -- Time Out, March 2009
`Witty, inventive and vaguely surreal, this novel should win over the most diehard crime fiction fans'.
-- Financial Times
"The wonderful Commissaire Adamsberg novels by... Fred Vargas have been runaway successes in Britain." -- Time Out, March 2009
`Witty, inventive and vaguely surreal, this novel should win over the most diehard crime fiction fans'.
-- Financial Times
Review
"The wonderful Commissaire Adamsberg novels by... Fred Vargas have been runaway successes in Britain."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By RachelWalker
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
"The Chalk Circle Man" is the very welcome first novel of Vargas' Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg series, the eccentric French series featuring an eccentric French policeman who investigates by intuition and instinct, and arrests people against logic. And always gets his man.
Mysterious chalk circles have started to appear on the streets of Paris. Drawn overnight, they contain increasingly bizarre objects: a pigeon's foot, cigarette lighters, a hat, a doll's head. Are they there to draw attention to discarded rubbish? Or does the artist put the items inside the circles? Is it for amusement, or is it for something more sinister? Adamsberg tends towards the latter option, and, being the man he is, keeps a close eye on the newspaper reports, which treat the circles as a silly practical joke. That is, they do until something far more sinister turns up in one of the blue circles: the body of a woman with her throat cut. Adamsberg's instincts are proved right, and he begins digging into the case in earnest. But his crucial question is: is the blue chalk circle man the killer, or is the killer a clever opportunist who has spotted a great moment to muddy some waters?
By now, anyone familiar with Vargas' work will not be remotely surprised by such a quirky synopsis, and, indeed, would probably be delighted to read something so seemingly bizarre! And I don't think they'd be disappointed, because the first Adamsberg novel is a perfect example of Vargas's fiction. It's the shortest of her works so far, the most succinct, the one most unclouded by subplots: Vargas takes her odd starting point by the scruff of the neck and turns it into the most streamlined and straightforward of her novels so far.... Read more ›
Mysterious chalk circles have started to appear on the streets of Paris. Drawn overnight, they contain increasingly bizarre objects: a pigeon's foot, cigarette lighters, a hat, a doll's head. Are they there to draw attention to discarded rubbish? Or does the artist put the items inside the circles? Is it for amusement, or is it for something more sinister? Adamsberg tends towards the latter option, and, being the man he is, keeps a close eye on the newspaper reports, which treat the circles as a silly practical joke. That is, they do until something far more sinister turns up in one of the blue circles: the body of a woman with her throat cut. Adamsberg's instincts are proved right, and he begins digging into the case in earnest. But his crucial question is: is the blue chalk circle man the killer, or is the killer a clever opportunist who has spotted a great moment to muddy some waters?
By now, anyone familiar with Vargas' work will not be remotely surprised by such a quirky synopsis, and, indeed, would probably be delighted to read something so seemingly bizarre! And I don't think they'd be disappointed, because the first Adamsberg novel is a perfect example of Vargas's fiction. It's the shortest of her works so far, the most succinct, the one most unclouded by subplots: Vargas takes her odd starting point by the scruff of the neck and turns it into the most streamlined and straightforward of her novels so far.... Read more ›
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
While this was the first novel in what has become an intriguing series,it probably is not the place to start. For here we encounter in characters,mood and quirkiness key apects and features of Vargas'later and more developed Parisian policier novels. Familiarity with those later and more succesful texts makes this an interesting read,a first draft,for the later more rewarding reads that we have already experienced. It has undoubtedly been published to cash in on the plaudits the later novels have deservedly received.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Bluebell
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Fred Vargas is a new author for me. The blurbs on the book-cover promised something really good and so starting with high expectations I was disappointed by a rather meandering story with implausible characters. The story lacks tension and didn't, for me at least, make me eager to find out what happens next. I can take some pretty far fetched motives for murder in detective fiction but the final denouement didn't convince me. I found that I was getting bored by the last third of the book. Ruth Rendell, Karen Fossum, PD James, Caroline Graham and Donna Leon in their different ways do crime-writing better and have each created a detective, as a central character, who comes alive in ones mind's eye and with whom one can identifiy. I didn't feel that with Vargas's detective Adamsberg.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By L. J. Roberts
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: Mathilde took out her diary and wrote: "The man sitting next to me has got one hell of a nerve."
Someone is drawing chalk circles on the streets of Paris. Initially, each surrounds such mundane items such as an old handbag, a cotton bud, a one-franc coin, a torch battery, or a screwdriver. Things change the night the circle contains the body of a woman whose throat has been slashed.
I am so glad to have found this series, although I started at the most recent book and am now starting at the first and reading forward. The book has a wonderful voice; you can hear the cadence of French in the dialogue.
The characters are fascinating. Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is a fascinating character and the fact that I can't form a mental picture of him is more fascinating than frustrating. I liked the unexpected connection between math and Adamsburg, which made perfect sense once I thought about it. I enjoyed his observations, realizations and introspections about himself and his idea of a universal uniform. Once he explained his logic for identifying the killer, it made perfect sense as all the clues were there. Adamsberg follows no discernable procedure but seems to `know' things is balanced wonderfully by Insp. Adrien Danglard who believes in the procedure, is raising five children on his own, indulges in too much white wine and discusses his cases with his children. In this book, there is also Mathelde, who brusqueness I enjoyed, as well as the way she sections her week and her various tables, particularly her Cosmic table.
The book's plot is cleverly done with a twist at the end which explains the killer's motive. I am very glad I read other books by this author before this one or I may not have liked it as well.... Read more ›
Someone is drawing chalk circles on the streets of Paris. Initially, each surrounds such mundane items such as an old handbag, a cotton bud, a one-franc coin, a torch battery, or a screwdriver. Things change the night the circle contains the body of a woman whose throat has been slashed.
I am so glad to have found this series, although I started at the most recent book and am now starting at the first and reading forward. The book has a wonderful voice; you can hear the cadence of French in the dialogue.
The characters are fascinating. Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is a fascinating character and the fact that I can't form a mental picture of him is more fascinating than frustrating. I liked the unexpected connection between math and Adamsburg, which made perfect sense once I thought about it. I enjoyed his observations, realizations and introspections about himself and his idea of a universal uniform. Once he explained his logic for identifying the killer, it made perfect sense as all the clues were there. Adamsberg follows no discernable procedure but seems to `know' things is balanced wonderfully by Insp. Adrien Danglard who believes in the procedure, is raising five children on his own, indulges in too much white wine and discusses his cases with his children. In this book, there is also Mathelde, who brusqueness I enjoyed, as well as the way she sections her week and her various tables, particularly her Cosmic table.
The book's plot is cleverly done with a twist at the end which explains the killer's motive. I am very glad I read other books by this author before this one or I may not have liked it as well.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By T. King
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The lead policeman is so laid back he has almost no personality and yet we are to believe he is invincible. While initially my interest was kept by the mystery of the blue circles, the ending was too ridiculous and unbelievable for words. Would not recommend..
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
chalk circle man
i bought his on reading reviews,but to be honest it didn't reach my expectations.Probably me, as i like a faster moving story & this was slower than i liked. Read more
Published 2 months ago by lesley
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you've not read any Fred Vargas you're missing out. Big time!
Fred Vargas is one of crime fiction's undiscovered geniuses. All her books are brilliant. They are strange and highly innovative. Not for everyone but, hey, live a little! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Touff1
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better in French
Blue chalk circles begin to appear in the Paris suburbs, each ringing some everyday object. But Commissaire Adamsberg knows it is only a matter of time before a circle contains a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Antenna
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dreamy and illogical
This is the first Commissaire Adamsberg novel, and finds him newly arrived in Paris and trying to win his team over to his dreamy, illogical (and frankly unprofessional) style of... Read more
Published 8 months ago by westwoodrich
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb.
`The Chalk Circle Man' is the first Fred Vargas book I've read and I knew I'd become a fan of her work within a few pages. Read more
Published 10 months ago by nigel p bird
2.0 out of 5 stars
disappointed
I was very disappointed with this book. I gave up half way through because it was getting so irritating.
I think the main problem is the translation is very poor. Read more
I think the main problem is the translation is very poor. Read more
Published 10 months ago by R. W. M. Lally
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Powers of Intuition
How to make a name in crime writing? Fred Vargas turned the genre upside down by breaking as many conventions as possible with this first novel (1996) about Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg... Read more
Published 22 months ago by P. A. Doornbos
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky crime. Great stuff.
First of the Detective Adamsberg series which are set in Paris. Adamsberg is one of the most unusual policemen in literature. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2011 by lovemurakami
3.0 out of 5 stars
intuitive detective
Personally I prefer my detectives to employ ratiocination rather than guesswork. Adamsberg's intuition however has more to do with his mind taking a short cut based on experience... Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2011 by Graham R. Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Parisien thriller
I love Fred Vargas' novels and this one introduces us to Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and his team. The writing here is fluid and compelling, the characters are quirky and interesting... Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2010 by Ally1665
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