The First Fingerprint: A Commandant de Palma Investigation
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Review
… the main characters are well-drawn and the sights, smells and atmosphere of the city are vividly evoked - Mail on Sunday.
Review
the main characters are well-drawn and the sights, smells and atmosphere of the city are vividly evoked - Mail on Sunday.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This excellent novel is the first of a series
featuring the tough,iconoclastic and successful
Marseille detective,Commandant de Palma.The investigation
concerns several brutal and ritualistic murders,which
de Palma comes to consider are connected with the recent
discovery of a pre-historic site in the area.
'The First Fingerprint' is a gripping,fast-paced,intelligent
novel which held my attention throughout.Highly recommended.
featuring the tough,iconoclastic and successful
Marseille detective,Commandant de Palma.The investigation
concerns several brutal and ritualistic murders,which
de Palma comes to consider are connected with the recent
discovery of a pre-historic site in the area.
'The First Fingerprint' is a gripping,fast-paced,intelligent
novel which held my attention throughout.Highly recommended.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
THE FIRST FINGERPRINT (Pol. Proc-Michael De Palma-Marseille, France-Cont) - VG
Bonnot, Xavier-Marie (Ian Monk, translator) - 1st in series
Quercus, 2008, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 9781847243522
First sentence: For some time, there had been only a diffuse glow in the sky, a faint light whose source was presumably somewhere behind the jagged row of black rocks, high up there, far above the tiny form now hurrying along, guided by the narrow beam of a torch pointing at the ground.
Commandant Michael De Palma, of the Marseilles Murder Squad, is the best; he always gets his man. That determination comes into play with the discovery of a brutal murder and a killer who leaves behind a negative impression of a three-fingered hand. The second body found near a recently discovered underwater cave with pre-historic images, is that of Christine Autran, a professor of the pre-historic era. De Palma feels there will be more killings, all somehow linked to this period.
Because the book was written in French and translated by a Brit into English, there was some occasional awkwardness, particularly with the dialogue, but never to where I found the book difficult to read. The descriptions and sense of place were wonderfully done. Having the story set in Marseilles was a nice change, although I have read the Martin O'Brian books set there as well.
I really enjoyed the characters. Bonnot provides their history, as the story progresses, and creates wonderful interaction between them. De Palma is detective reminiscent of Rankin's Rebus. He is nearing retirement, loves opera, but other music as well, is not an alcoholic, but his dedication to his job, which comes through in a very visceral way, may be costing him his marriage.
There is some graphic violence, but it is infrequent and offset with excellent suspense, and a hint of romance. I so enjoyed this book and hope to see the other three books in the series available soon.
Bonnot, Xavier-Marie (Ian Monk, translator) - 1st in series
Quercus, 2008, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 9781847243522
First sentence: For some time, there had been only a diffuse glow in the sky, a faint light whose source was presumably somewhere behind the jagged row of black rocks, high up there, far above the tiny form now hurrying along, guided by the narrow beam of a torch pointing at the ground.
Commandant Michael De Palma, of the Marseilles Murder Squad, is the best; he always gets his man. That determination comes into play with the discovery of a brutal murder and a killer who leaves behind a negative impression of a three-fingered hand. The second body found near a recently discovered underwater cave with pre-historic images, is that of Christine Autran, a professor of the pre-historic era. De Palma feels there will be more killings, all somehow linked to this period.
Because the book was written in French and translated by a Brit into English, there was some occasional awkwardness, particularly with the dialogue, but never to where I found the book difficult to read. The descriptions and sense of place were wonderfully done. Having the story set in Marseilles was a nice change, although I have read the Martin O'Brian books set there as well.
I really enjoyed the characters. Bonnot provides their history, as the story progresses, and creates wonderful interaction between them. De Palma is detective reminiscent of Rankin's Rebus. He is nearing retirement, loves opera, but other music as well, is not an alcoholic, but his dedication to his job, which comes through in a very visceral way, may be costing him his marriage.
There is some graphic violence, but it is infrequent and offset with excellent suspense, and a hint of romance. I so enjoyed this book and hope to see the other three books in the series available soon.
Format:Paperback
Marseilles is the city of the French connection, with big racial mixing and colorful. The city of crime. We follow Commandant De Palma, complex man and a great hunter, along side streets, suburban folk and very beautiful sights on a gripping manhunt, against a barbaric monster.
Page turner and intelligent crime fiction !
Page turner and intelligent crime fiction !
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
OK
Ok but seems to follow the format of many other writers. Notrhing special but readable
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by G. D. Munson
Another self-important detective in a beautifully gritty city plies...
Xavier Marie Bonnot's The First Fingerprint certainly takes the cake. More than a novel with a linear plot, it is a bit of an episodic police procedural, drawing on multiple crimes... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2009 by Feanor
Cardboard from start to finish
I don't know if the book was badly written to start with or badly translated but whatever it was this is not a good read. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2009 by K. F. Mnday
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