 |
The
opera singer Sophia Siméonidis wakes up one morning to discover
that a tree has appeared overnight in the garden of her Paris
house. Intrigued and unnerved, she turns to her neighbours:
Vandoosler, an ex-cop, and three impecunious historians, Mathias,
Marc and Lucien - the three evangelists. They agree to dig around
the tree and see if something has been buried there. They find
nothing but soil.
A few weeks later, Sophia disappears and her body is found burned to ashes in a car. Who killed the opera singer? Her husband, her ex-lover, her best friend, her niece? They all seem to have a motive. Vandoosler and the three evangelists set out to find the truth. |
I was looking for French
crime authors for my #InternationalCrime meme, and I stumbled upon
Fred Vargas. Winner of International Dagger Award for three times,
she (Fred is shortened from Frédérique) is not just a writer, but
also historian and archaeologist. I assumed that I would love her
books, and I wasn't wrong.
The Three Evangelists is
her first book which won International Dagger Award and it is written
in 1995, translated in English in 2006. The story starts with an
opera singer, Sophia Siméonidis, who wakes up one morning just to
notice a big tree in her backyard, a tree that wasn't there the day
before. She is a famous person and she considers this as a personal
threat from a lunatic fan. The house next door is a home of four
extraordinary people. Armand Vandoosler, a former police commissaire,
his god-son Marc, Lucien and Matthias. The old Vandoosler names the
three young men the three evangelists, Saint-Mark, Saint-Luke and
Saint-Matthew. The three evangelists are historians, for different
time of history and they are all live in their own world, in the time
they study. Sophia asks their help for the tree, they dig it and find
nothing. But soon after that, Sophia disappears. Later, her body is
found burned in what suppose to be a car accident.
The three young
historians with the help of the old former detective are in the
search of their neighbour's killers. Who would think that the
knowledge of history can help solving a murder?
Saint-Marc, Saint-Luke
and Saint-Matthew are so original characters. Each one of them lives
in his own world, each one of them is some kind of knight in shining
armour. Some people might consider them lunatic, but they are all
very intelligent and perfectly stand on their own feet. Their
conversations are even more interesting than the plot itself. Their
medieval knowledge is perfectly incorporated in not just the plot
itself, but also in their every day fights and talks and their own
very unique view of the world.
There are other
characters in the story, characters that might be involved in the
murder. The husband, the neighbour, the niece, they are all suspects.
They all seem like nice people, all of them concerned for Sophia's
death. But nothing can trick the old commissaire's eye. And with the
help of his three house mates, Sophia can finally rest in piece.
It is my very first book
of Fred Vargas, but certainly it won't be the last. I am hooked on
her crime noir writing and I'll be definitely in the search of her
other books. And they are so many.
My opinion: 4,5 / 5.
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