Books Reviews

Death on the Marais – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Oct 1, 2010, 2:22 GMT

She was going to die. She could feel it, her life ebbing away as surely as fine sand through fingers. The thought caused her more sadness than fear; less a sense of foreboding than a cause to wonder what lay ahead. France, 1963. It\'s a time of great change in France, not least for Inspector Lucas Rocco. Taken out of his home base of Clichy, Paris, as part of a ...more

Brilliant - you just cannot put it down. Set in the early 1960's, Inspector Rocco has been moved from Paris to a rural village in northern France as part of a nationwide reorganization. 

He has considerable autonomy, answering only to the local Commissionaire - who just happens to be someone Rocco rescued from a stupid action during the war in Indo-China.  Relationships are inevitably a little strained.

The discovery of a young woman in Gestapo uniform in a pool of water on the Marais swamps leads to a murder investigation.  Too many people are keen to cover it up - Rocco is persistent and finds a web of corruption, betrayals and death dating back to the wartime Resistance. 

Who is trying to cover up from who?  Answers are not easy to find and soon lead to other deaths.  The gloomy, somber, atmospheric landscape of Picardie is brilliantly evoked and characters really come to life through the pages of this story. 

This is said to be the first in a new series of books starring Inspector Rocco - and I eagerly await the next offering.  Magson is clearly onto a winner with this series.