- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc (Oct 30 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1847245935
- ISBN-13: 978-1847245939
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 281 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
the main characters are well-drawn and the sights, smells and atmosphere of the city are vividly evoked - Mail on Sunday.
Book Description
In an underwater cavern off the coast west of Marseille are the first human engravings known to man. Among them is a crude drawing of a three-fingered hand, which has long puzzled archaeologists. Is it a hunting signal? A mystic sign invoking the spirits? Or is it, as many believe, evidence of ritual mutilation in a Shamanistic world? "The Hunter" evidently believes the latter. Driven by inhuman voices to maim and kill, he severs the body parts of his victims - and signs his savagery with a print of a three-fingered hand. Commandant Michel de Palma, of the Marseille murder squad, heads to the university in Aix-en-Provence to investigate further, but the clique of pre-history professors he encounters are as hard to unravel as the meaning of the cave-drawing itself. As he gets closer to the truth, the group of academics close ranks. Slowly and alone, de Palma begins pursuing a mystery that dates back to the Ice age. The First Fingerprint introduces a policeman as polished as he is brutal, as charming as he is deceptive. Michel de Palma, called "the Baron" by his colleagues, knows the dark underside of the city of Marseille as do none of his rivals. But his enemies are everywhere: in the crime-infested sinks of the suburbs; in the sleek and squalid bars of the old quarter; even in the police ranks themselves.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful new detective in the mystery ranks, Oct 8 2008
By L. J. Roberts - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The First Fingerprint (Hardcover)
THE FIRST FINGERPRINT (Pol. Proc-Michael De Palma-Marseille, France-Cont) - VGBonnot, 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.
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