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Death in Brittany

(Kommissar Dupin #1)

Jean-Luc Bannalec

3.58 · Rating details · 3,241 ratings · 447 reviews

Commissaire Georges Dupin, a Parisian-born caffeine junkie recently relocated from the glamour of Paris to the remote (if picturesque) Breton coast, is not happy when he is dragged from his morning croissant and coffee to the scene of a curious murder. The local village of Pont-Aven-a sleepy community by the sea where everyone knows one other and nothing much seems to happ ...more

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ebook, 320 pages

Published June 30th 2015 by Minotaur Books (first published 2012)

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Dec 30, 2017 Cathy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

An armchair mystery by a German author with a French pen name, possibly trying to re-create Maigret in Brittany. Pretty boring. We get a bunch of aimless interrogations/interviews, dialogues that consist of many repetitions, a lot of walking and driving around and a fairly uninspired criminal case. Around the middle the plots gets a bit more interesting, but there is a distinct lack of suspense. The solution to the mystery is just as lackluster and one of the pivotal moments towards the end play ...more

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Jun 28, 2015 Lesa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction, police-procedural, traditional-mystery

Ready for an atmospheric, traditional police procedural? Jean-Luc Bannalec's Death in Brittany was a bestseller for many months in Germany after its 2012 publication there. It's not a fast-paced thriller, though, so it won't make the bestseller lists here. It's for those of us who appreciate a thoughtful police officer and the slow unraveling of a crime. In addition, there are the beautiful small towns of Brittany to entice a reader.

Commissaire Georges Dupin was banished from the Paris police fo Ready for an atmospheric, traditional police procedural? Jean-Luc Bannalec's Death in Brittany was a bestseller for many months in Germany after its 2012 publication there. It's not a fast-paced thriller, though, so it won't make the bestseller lists here. It's for those of us who appreciate a thoughtful police officer and the slow unraveling of a crime. In addition, there are the beautiful small towns of Brittany to entice a reader.

Commissaire Georges Dupin was banished from the Paris police force, sent to the remote Breton coast. However, he enjoys his mornings in Concarneau, sipping coffee at a waterfront cafe, away from the politics of Paris. But, the murder of a renowned ninety-one-year-old hotelier in nearby Pont-Aven threatens to thrust his latest case into the spotlight. Pont-Aven and the Central Hotel played host to Gaugin and other artists in the 19th century, building its reputation on the connection to the artists. Now, the death of Pierre-Louis Pennec throws the entire region in an uproar.

Dupin finds everyone shocked by the murder, but no one is particularly helpful when it comes to investigating the crime. And, a break-in at the crime scene only muddies the waters. It seems everyone associated with Pennec and the Central Hotel has a closely-guarded secret. It will take a few walks and a few cups of coffee for Dupin to dig through his thoughts for the truth.

Dupin, with his love of coffee, good food, and walks by the sea, is only slightly eccentric as a detective. His biggest flaw is his inability to hold his tongue, so he tries to avoid conversations and confrontations with the higher ups. And, with the trace of humor in this book when it comes to Dupin, he acknowledges that. "He found it a bit sad, because he lacked some of the 'hidden depths' which now seemed a quasi-requirement for his profession: drug addiction, or at least alcoholism, neuroses or depression to a clinical degree, a colourful criminal past, corruption on an interesting scale or several dramatically failed marriages. He didn't have any of those things to show off about."

Spend a day or two with Dupin, walking the paths of small-town Brittany, exploring the cafes and side streets, while pondering the mysteries of murder, Death in Brittany. It's a charming quiet mystery that introduces a traditional police detective and a story that reaches into the past. ...more

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Aug 16, 2020 Javier rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was looking for some light traditional police procedural mystery set in an atmospheric location, in the tradition of Donna Leon’s Comissario Brunetti series, and I found it in Jean Luc Bannalec’s Commissaire Dupin series.

Although a bit eccentric and grumpy I found Dupin quite likable (yes, I know, he could treat his coworkers a little bit better 😂) and it’s much appreciated he’s not dragging along some big trauma from his past.

The murder mystery is pretty straight forward and I found the art ...more

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Apr 06, 2014 Raven rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you’re keen to discover some new French crime fiction, Jean-Luc Bannalec is a real find. Death In Pont-Aven introduces us to Commissaire Dupin, a cantankerous Parisian caffeine junkie, who polices the small Breton village of Pont-Aven, a sleepy community near the sea. Everyone knows everyone else and nothing much seems to happen. However, one morning he is dragged from his coffee and croissant to the scene of a murder at the local Central Hotel. The housekeeper has discovered the 91-year-old If you’re keen to discover some new French crime fiction, Jean-Luc Bannalec is a real find. Death In Pont-Aven introduces us to Commissaire Dupin, a cantankerous Parisian caffeine junkie, who polices the small Breton village of Pont-Aven, a sleepy community near the sea. Everyone knows everyone else and nothing much seems to happen. However, one morning he is dragged from his coffee and croissant to the scene of a murder at the local Central Hotel. The housekeeper has discovered the 91-year-old manager and owner Pierre-Louis Pennec dead on the restaurant floor.

The very occurrence of such a murder in such a place sends both Dupin and the local community into a state of shock and surprise. However, soon Dupin and his team come up with five viable suspects, including a rising political star, a wealthy art historian, and a long-time friend of the dead man. A mysterious break-in and then another suspicious death only deepen the mystery and as Dupin delves deeper into the lives of the victims and the suspects, he uncovers a web of secrecy, greed and silence at odds with the idyllic surrounds of Pont-Aven.

Bannalec has produced an incredibly character-driven piece, in common with his fellow French and Italian contemporaries. The curmudgeonly and self-deprecating Dupin is the real driving force throughout the book with his idiosyncratic nature, that are endlessly entertaining to the reader, and a source of deep frustration to his more straight-laced and by-the-book colleagues. Everyone knows the tropes of fictional police detectives, and Dupin wryly bemoans the absence of drug dependency, depression, neuroses and broken marriages in his own life. However, with his sharp tongue, cynical nature and a surprising fondness for penguins – yes, penguins! – he proves himself a colourful and interesting character throughout.

Obviously with the stark contrast between Dupin sophisticated backround in Paris, and the very unique and fiercely independent spirit of the Bretons, there is ample opportunity for some earthy humour. Likewise, Bannalec captures perfectly the claustrophobic feel of this small town, but also paints a majestic picture of the overlapping communities both rural and shore-dwelling, and the contrasting lives and mind-sets of the two communities within Brittany.

Fuelled by murder, art forgeries, family resentments and scheming neighbours, the plot is engaging from the start. Injected with Bannalec’s research into the links between the region and some France’s greatest painters, the initial murder mystery is fleshed out and strengthened not only by the careful disguising of the real murderer by a series of red herrings, but by the carefully placed re-imagining of this former community of artists. Along with Dupin, I was completely wrong-footed throughout as potential suspects came to the fore, all with strong motives for their possible involvement in murder and theft.

Death in Pont-Aven is a smart and utterly entertaining read. It its centre is a wonderfully empathetic and engaging detective whose wry humour, fixed ways and generally grumpy demeanour, drive the action and interest. His seemingly haphazard form of detection – constantly interrupted by coffee breaks – frustrate and bemuse both colleagues and potential suspects alike. Compounded by an intriguing and interesting murder plot that really brings the most pernicious aspects of this small community to the fore, it’s a highly satisfying read.
...more

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Aug 21, 2015 Tuck rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sailing-and-fighting, europa, noir, wine-and-food

i guess like all bestsellers, inherently? they appeal to low level reading, and this being an international bestseller, it is universally poor plot, characters, sense of place? anyway, a police procedural set in small towns on coast of nw france...our detective is a renegade but gets down to business in his own way.
for better atmospherics, local scenes, and deeper thinkers in detection i like camilleri's books set in sicily Game of Mirrors ; dibdin's in naples Game of Mirrors ; mcilvanney in gla ...more

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Sep 09, 2014 Elisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, St. Martin's Press!
The way this book describes the town of Pont-Aven and the whole region of Brittany and its ambiance is a delight. The characters are well developed and the mystery develops at a steady pace, leaving a great taste in the reader's mouth. The one problem with this book is that it will make you crave Commissaire Dupin's morning croissant. A wonderful read! ...more

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Jul 30, 2018 Kathy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

More like 4.5 stars for me
I was fortunate in waiting for available copy of this book that I could also check out the second of this series at the same time. The third I was able to place on hold. I do love finding a new and very interesting police investigator (Commissaire Dupin) who does his own thing in his own way in his own time. A fourth book in the series will come out in Spring 2019. There is also a German television series already made and can be viewed on you tube. How's your German? Th More like 4.5 stars for me
I was fortunate in waiting for available copy of this book that I could also check out the second of this series at the same time. The third I was able to place on hold. I do love finding a new and very interesting police investigator (Commissaire Dupin) who does his own thing in his own way in his own time. A fourth book in the series will come out in Spring 2019. There is also a German television series already made and can be viewed on you tube. How's your German? The author is German, a surprise to me after I googled the pseudonym. He apparently lives part time in Brittany as well as Germany (or so says the internet).
Having read the book I now want to travel asap to Brittany. The scenery as well as the villages and even the food scene are described wonderfully in this book. This is a thinking policeman who likes/needs to walk to allow the puzzle pieces to fit together in his analysis. He is given so little information arriving on the scene of a murder in a hotel dining room. It is the body of a 91-year old hotelier, brutally stabbed. His methods include locking up the scene of the crime and keeping it intact for as long as he wishes while interviews and fact gathering proceeds.
Very rich art history in the area plays a major role in this crime. Gauguin's work and love of the people and the area are well known. I must admit to loving his depiction of Breton girls in their white bonnets and have a print recently purchased that needs framing. The Chicago Art Institute recently held a rich exhibition of Gauguin's varied works.
So...we have Brittany, scenes of rivers and sea, quaint villages, art history and greed to uncover. Excellent read!
sample from book to give you idea of descriptive text:
"The landscape became more and more enchanting as the narrow little streets at the edge of Pont-Aven gave way to thick woodland. The trees were dripping with mistletoe and ivy, overgrown and moss-covered. Some of the trees here had entwined as they grew, forming a long dark green tunnel. Now and then the Aven shimmered between the trees on the left hand side as though it were electrically charged, a pale silver colour. The last of the day's light bathed everything in its glow, lending the landscape even more of a fairytale atmosphere. By now, Dupin knew this landscape and this atmosphere very well....He always thought that if you were to meet a dwarf or an elf or some other mythical creature in this kind of light, you wouldn't even bat an eyelid." ...more

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Jul 29, 2020 Mark rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, 2020, cozy-mystery

The owner of an hotel gets killed and shortly thereafter follows his son. What can a family run hotel offer any motive when the owner according to his doctor was fatally ill.
|Commisioner Dupin transplanted from Paris to Brittany as a policeman will have to find an answer to this question which will shortly change into an investigation whose answer might lie in the past when Port Arven was a place for artists like Gauguin.

JEAN-LUC BANNALEC is a pseudonym for Jorg Bong a German writer. The author ...more

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Jul 01, 2017 John Lee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This wasnt what I was expecting at all. When I briefly scanned a review or comment about this book I got totally the wrong idea. I was expecting an ordinary french village policemen similar to Chief Inspector Bruno , the only policeman in St Denis in the Dordogne in the novels by Martin Walker. Instead I got a sharp Police Commissaire from Brittany who, although a little unorthadox, was a quick witted murder detective. However, the current fashion in the modern police (and other) work to keep ev This wasnt what I was expecting at all. When I briefly scanned a review or comment about this book I got totally the wrong idea. I was expecting an ordinary french village policemen similar to Chief Inspector Bruno , the only policeman in St Denis in the Dordogne in the novels by Martin Walker. Instead I got a sharp Police Commissaire from Brittany who, although a little unorthadox, was a quick witted murder detective. However, the current fashion in the modern police (and other) work to keep everyone up to date with regular 'Team' meetings seem to have passed him by. He is very much a loner and keeps his ideas and discoveries very much to himself. He must be terrible to work for and your heart goes out to his Inspectors.

The book itself took some tracking down and none of my usual sources nor any of the three County Libraries that I use had anything by this author. Reading through some of the reviews on 'Goodreads', I see that some have been lucky enough to received their book in a 'Giveaway' and if anyone knows of any copies going of any other translated later books in the series, I would be very pleased to hear from them.

And so , at last, to the book and a most enjoyable read . It is very obvious from the adjectives that the author uses , that he loves the area as much as I do. We were lucky enough to spend some time in the area in 2015 and were entranced by beauty of this picturesque village in particular. I would love to return again now, not to view the scene of the crime so much as the bars and the restaurants that Dupin has found in his 3 years there.

Possibly, because of my visit but also, because of the authors abilities, I had no trouble picturing all of the locations in my minds eye and the characters were all made real by his penwork.

It took much of the book before the reason for the murder of the much liked 91 year old hotelier/restauranteur was discovered by the Commissaire but the clues were there for the reader to spot.
Did I? Of course not and neither did I identify the killer. Perhaps I was too busy reliving the sights , sounds and food of this beautiful corner of France.

Certainly a 4* and so very nearly a 5 of which I have high hopes if/when I manage to get hold of subsequent books of the series. ...more

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Apr 29, 2015 Ronald Roseborough rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, murder, crime

Reading this story is a bit like tasting wine, sometimes you savor the sweetness, sometimes the taste is a little dry, and sometimes you notice a hint of something you can’t quite put a name on. French Police Commissaire George Dupin finds himself in charge of a murder investigation in the village of Pont-Aven located in the picturesque provence of Brittany. Being a native Parisian himself, he still feels out of place among the Bretons, their old Celtic traditions, and their suspicious attitude ...more

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Jan 27, 2018 Melanie rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this, a good start to a mystery series set in Brittany with a strong sense of place. Not grim, but not cosy either. Reminded me a lot of Donna Leon's Comissario Brunetti series set in Venice. Only downside is that I was permanently hungry for café and croissants, desire to go on holiday to Brittany asap and googled Gauguin a bit too much. ...more

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Feb 21, 2015 Franziska rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-readings

This was a very enjoyable crime story. This could be the perfect book for you particularly if you like france, breautiful small places near the ocean, wine, coffee, art and the better life in general. Or if you like me just want a break from the cold grey February weather.

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Aug 03, 2015 Nicole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An intriguing mystery with a great setting!

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Jun 28, 2020 Bicky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Start of a great police procedural series. Jean-Luc Bannalec is the pen name of a German who is in love with Brittany and this is well transferred with these books. It is not as if the mystery is neglected. The reader should not be put off by the way Dupin's attitude towards some of his juniors in this book as that changes with the second book onward. ...more

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Nov 22, 2017 Richard Brown rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A really excellent new murder mystery. Comissaire Dupin, the hero is a great character and the descriptions of the area are so good I actually visited a few weeks ago and had coffee at his favourite restaurant.

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Feb 17, 2016 Christine Zibas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There's something to be said about writing that is so wonderfully descriptive that it can transport its readers to a place they may never have visited before. Such is the case with "Death in Brittany," the first in a series featuring a caffeine-driven, food-loving Commissaire Georges Dupin, a Parisian transplant who's been living and working cases in Brittany for three years and will forever be considered an outsider.

Dupin has unusual investigative methods, but in the end, they get their crimina There's something to be said about writing that is so wonderfully descriptive that it can transport its readers to a place they may never have visited before. Such is the case with "Death in Brittany," the first in a series featuring a caffeine-driven, food-loving Commissaire Georges Dupin, a Parisian transplant who's been living and working cases in Brittany for three years and will forever be considered an outsider.

Dupin has unusual investigative methods, but in the end, they get their criminal(s). The story unfolds when a 91-year-old hotelier is found dead in his family establishment, the victim of murder. Just who would want to kill this beloved man and pillar of the community? No one can imagine a perpetrator or discern any notable change in the pattern of the hotelier's most recent behavior.

However, not surprisingly, not everyone in the closed community of Pont-Aven is willing to spill the secrets of the hotel nor its family dynasty. Yet, there's an urgency to solve the crime, as tourist season is about to get under way in this seaside community, where Parisians flock for vacation, following in the footsteps of the 19th century artists of the Pont-Aven School of Art, a group that featured such luminaries as Gaugin.

Among the possible suspects are the man's son and daughter-in-law, the local museum head and a Parisian museum curator, the man's estranged half-brother (an up and coming politician), and various other hotel staff members, friends, and contacts. In other words, everyone and no one. When a thief breaks into the crime scene at the hotel after the hotelier has been murdered, it's clear that there's more to the story than meets the eye.

Author Jean-Luc Bannalec (the pseudonym for a German writer) keeps readers guessing about the perpetrator, especially when a second body is found just days after the initial murder. The ever-changing list of suspects may alter as readers make their way through this novel and rush to the end. However, some of the most enjoyable aspects of the mystery are descriptions of local sites, history, and atmosphere, and the book is best enjoyed if readers can pace themselves as they learn to stop and smell the sea air along the way.

Review first appeared on ReviewingtheEvidence.com.
...more

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May 02, 2016 Clare O'Beara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: europe-crime

Brittany and Pont-Aven are the main settings for this police procedural. If you are allergic to French names, tread with care. At the start of tourist season in the coastal town, the police detective Dupin who is enjoying the contrast with Paris, is summoned to inspect the scene of a murder. A prominent businessman has been found dead - of course, nobody had any grudge against him, and the rest.

We see a lot of the historic and attractive setting as Dupin investigates. For instance, the Bretons ...more

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Feb 17, 2018 Pam Mertens rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I liked the story; it held my interest to the end. The murderer was not who I thought it would be, given all the possibilities. And the descriptions of Brittany made me want to add that area of France to my travel list. I'm looking forward to reading more of Commissaire Dupin. ...more

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Jun 02, 2015 Cathy Cole rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Bannalec has written a mystery with a marvelous sense of place, complete with some of its fascinating historical background. His descriptions are so vivid it was easy for me to picture the beautiful setting. The mystery is also a good one, with tie-ins to local history and to Paul Gauguin.

What is lacking in Death in Brittany is characterization. It's all about the investigation here. None of the characters come to life. Dupin's two inspectors become mere minions after very brief introductions. ...more

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Nov 16, 2019 Deale Hutton rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The book was only good enough to keep me reading until the end. Commissaire Dupin was sort of interesting, but was not really well developed other than his penchant to hang up the phone and not return calls. Rather than hints at the mur derer or a developing plot line the author chooses to have his Dupin, main character ,write 'things' in a notebook. We are not privy to his writings. I did find interest in evaluating suspects, but received no clue from the author. I finished the book because of ...more

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Nov 09, 2015 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It took me a while to get into this book but as it was the first of the series perhaps there was a fair amount of introductory information to impart to the reader in order to get to know Dupin. I will try the next one (when it's published in English) to see if it gets going a bit quicker and whether Dupin becomes a bit more likeable.

I thought the plot was interesting and quite inventive with plenty of red herrings. The descriptions of the locations (most of which I have been to) were very evoca ...more

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Aug 30, 2019 Valerie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: france, crime-mysteries-thriller, around-the-world-crime, translated

A nice crime fiction set in Brittany. It is very much a classic, procedural detective novel where the focus is on uncovering who committed the crime and where the detective is slightly unfriendly and unconventional. The mystery is well constructed but don’t expect to be sitting on the edge of your seat while reading the novel. The atmospherics of the Brittany setting gives added character, and I hope than in the further books in the series this will come forward even more.

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Sep 04, 2016 Claire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ready to pack my bags for a trip to Brittany. Nicely convoluted plot and good atmosphere and description. Looking forward to more in the series.

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Jun 05, 2019 Chloe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The beginning of a love affair.

Merged review:

I have read all 5 in English. They just get better. I just learn even more about Brittany.

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Sep 15, 2020 Michael Martz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

'Death in Brittany' is a real old-fashioned whodunnit, and I mean that in a good way. It's set in a pretty part of the world, Brittany, the writing (translated from French) seems almost courtly, the characters are quirky but not annoying, the main character is flawed but effective, and the story proceeds at a pace that could never be called breakneck. And everyone is all so French: opinionated, provincial, polite in the extreme, and prone to hyperbole.

The main investigator and 'star', Georges D 'Death in Brittany' is a real old-fashioned whodunnit, and I mean that in a good way. It's set in a pretty part of the world, Brittany, the writing (translated from French) seems almost courtly, the characters are quirky but not annoying, the main character is flawed but effective, and the story proceeds at a pace that could never be called breakneck. And everyone is all so French: opinionated, provincial, polite in the extreme, and prone to hyperbole.

The main investigator and 'star', Georges Dupin, is a man who loves his coffee, the wonderful food of coastal Brittany, and the beautiful part of France he'd relocated to from Paris. He's pulled into the investigation of the brutal murder of the 91 year old proprietor, Pierre Pennec, of a hotel in Pont-Aven, a small town where famous painter Paul Gauguin had spent considerable time in the 19th century. The victim, the son of the founder of the hotel who had been a friend to the artistic community in Gauguin's era, was well loved in the community and in the initial interviews done by Dupin and his team no one could speculate as to who the killer may be. However, Dupin discovers that Pennec's doctor had recently given him less than a week to live due to a heart condition and that his will didn't exactly treat his children equally. Additionally, he'd been in contact with a famous Paris museum to bequeath a previously unknown Gauguin painting worth $40m to it that had been hung in the hotel's restaurant. So all those clues point to several folks who may have had motive.

Dupin's an interesting character. As is true for most protagonists in the genre, he has his faults but they're mostly innocuous. He's a caffeine addict, he loves his French food, he can be a little curt with folks but is unfailingly polite, and he doesn't like when his superiors take credit for the work of he and his team. Compared to a Bosch or Rebus that may sound boring, but it was a refreshing experience to read a novel that was very much focused on investigation by forensics, interview, and logic with a total lack of interference by outsiders. This appears to be the first in a series, so I'll move along with it as a nice change of pace from what one usually encounters in the genre. Very well worth a read! ...more

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Apr 25, 2017 Elaine Tomasso rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Commissioner Dupin is called from his base in Concarneau to the nearby village of Pont-Aven to investigate the murder of 91 year old hotelier, Pierre-Louis Pennec found dead in his hotel dining room. There are plenty of suspects but no apparent motive or forensic clues so it is up to Dupin to work it out with the help of his assistants, Inspectors Labat and Le Ber.

Death in Pont-Aven is a leisurely stroll through South Brittany with a little crime thrown in for good measure. Very much in the styl Commissioner Dupin is called from his base in Concarneau to the nearby village of Pont-Aven to investigate the murder of 91 year old hotelier, Pierre-Louis Pennec found dead in his hotel dining room. There are plenty of suspects but no apparent motive or forensic clues so it is up to Dupin to work it out with the help of his assistants, Inspectors Labat and Le Ber.

Death in Pont-Aven is a leisurely stroll through South Brittany with a little crime thrown in for good measure. Very much in the style of Martin Walker's Bruno the location and the food have starring roles. Rarely have I read such good descriptions of the location and I felt that I could picture it all from the changeable weather to the winding roads and hoards of tourists. I also liked the snippets of history and culture given to Dupin, which as an incomer, the natives do not expect him to know. It all makes for an evocative, atmospheric read.

Dupin is an interesting character. Transferred or could it be banished to Finisterre (from the latin finis terra meaning end of the world, a nice conceit) for one too many insults to his superiors in Paris he has come to love Concarneau but is well aware that he will always be "new". He has learned to curb his tongue but not his dislike of the politics of the job or the politicians involved so there are some amusing exchanges between him and various functionaries. He is not much more forthcoming with Labat and Le Ber whom he expects to follow his instructions blindly with no understanding of why. He is a lone wolf working in a team.

The plot is the fairly straightforward hunt for a killer, hampered by the secrets kept by Pennec's friends and family. It is linear with no hints about the killer until the end. I didn't guess who it was but I'm not sure anyone could as much of the motive does not appear until the second half of the novel. Having said this I think the plot is the weakest part of the novel.

I really enjoyed Death in Pont-Aven, more for the atmosphere and characterisation than the crime aspect, so I have no hesitation in recommending as a good read. ...more

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Dec 13, 2018 Mary Bennett rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-book-group, read-2018

This book is our Mystery Group's selection for this month, and it is a charming police procedural set in Brittany. I have never read any of his books, but my husband who travels annually to Germany said that the books in this series are very popular there, and apparently there is a tv series based on this series.

The book starts off with the brutal stabbing of a ninety-one-year-old hotelier, Pierre-Louis Pennec who was found dead in his hotel. (The murder, however, is not graphically described) ...more

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Jun 21, 2020 Courtney Chartier rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I've been looking for a new mystery series, and this one is a great fit.

We learn bits and pieces about Commissaire Dupin throughout the book, but the focus is on the work of solving a mystery (it's a grind), not some sort of tortured past or special talent. The Commissaire's only vices are coffee and entrecôte; there's even a sly joke that he's misunderstood as a detective because he isn't a drunk, or a drug addict, or unable to hold a relationship, or dark...he's just a bachelor detective with ...more

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May 10, 2019 Anne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The perfect murder mystery! It's cozy, it's thought-provoking, it gives you wanderlust--what else can you ask for!

This was actually my second time reading Death in Brittany and I still loved it! Commissaire Dupin is a grumpy, irritable, unlikable character, so of course, I love him. His character is balanced out by the other characters throughout the book, Le Ber, Labat, Nolwenn, Cassel all help fill out the story. However, the most important character in the whole book is probably Brittany its ...more

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May 21, 2019 Ian Hales rated it liked it · review of another edition

Not bad! Not the greatest thing I've read, but not a complete waste of time. The translation was a little annoying. I didn't like how they would choose certain words to be in French. It's like in old movies when a character from Mexico speaks English, but still uses words like Adios, senor, and si. ...more

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Play Book Tag: Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec 3 stars	1	10	Jun 18, 2019 08:00AM
Play Book Tag: Death in Brittany (Commissaire Dupin, #1) by Jean-Luc Bannalec - 4 stars	9	13	Dec 27, 2018 08:59AM
translator?	1	7	Jun 28, 2018 09:02AM