Stick Together

December 1, 2018
Forced to buy into an unwanted case for a logical but excruciatingly painful reason, Commissaire Anne Capestan drags her squad of Île-de-France rejects (The Awkward Squad, 2017) along for the ride.Who should investigate the fatal shooting of retired Commissaire Serge Rufus, of the Brigade Antigang? The obvious candidate is the members of Paris' Brigade Criminelle. But Capestan's boss, Directeur Buron, wants her squad of officers, exiled from their original posts because of misbehavior or incompetence, to join--though not lead, he carefully adds--the investigation, because she was until recently married to the victim's son, comedian-turned-club owner Paul Rufus. Capestan hasn't even wanted to see Paul. Now she has to comfort him, question him, and protect him from what promises to be a considerable buffeting after his father's death turns out to be only part of a larger pattern. Provencal furniture manufacturer Jacques Maire has already been murdered in a way that clearly connects his death to Serge's, and a third murder will confirm the pattern. A ray of hope shines when the squad's deep data dig links all three homicides to a 25-year-old armed robbery that left two dead at the Minerva Bank in Lyon, especially since convicted robber Max Ramier has just been released from prison after serving his time. But Ramier first humiliates Capestan by eluding the dragnet she's spread around him and then has the impudence to get murdered himself, leaving the squad back at square one--unless they care to cast a cold eye at Capitaine Orsini, one of their own number whom the evidence uncomfortably implicates in the Minerva Bank job.Best enjoyed by readers who'll happily accept a low surprise quotient in return for needle-sharp portraits of professional infighting among France's finest.

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Starred review from February 11, 2019
Paris police commissaire Anne Capestan and her department of cast-offs investigate the murder of Capestan’s ex-father-in-law, police commissaire Serge Rufus, in this sterling sequel to 2018’s The Awkward Squad. Capestan is hoping her unusual team and their unorthodox methods can show up the two other more prestigious departments also assigned to the case. They are able to link Rufus’s murder to two others, all of which connect to a 1992 bank robbery in Lyon. The twists and turns in the plot feel more like an actual police case than contrived story lines. Vignettes of each of the officers’ private lives highlight their oddities and make them more endearing. Welcome comedic elements include a chase on a borrowed pony by one team member, who believes himself to be a king’s musketeer, and a second officer’s participation in an international clothes ironing competition. That another squad member proves to have a connection to the case muddies the investigative waters. Full of heart, wit, and lovable characters, Hénaff’s quirky procedural is a winner.

March 1, 2019

After solving a cold case that exposed a fellow officer (The Awkward Squad), Commissaire Anne Capestan and her "awkward squad" of rogues and misfits have become even bigger pariahs among their colleagues on the Paris police force. It comes as a surprise when she's called to the scene of a high-profile murder, until she discovers the victim is Commissaire Serge Rufus, the estranged father of her ex-husband. Her team is asked to assist the investigation, though the lead officers make it clear they neither want nor value the help. When a Provençal businessman is murdered in a similar fashion, it's clear the deaths are related. A third murder ties the cases to a man convicted of an old bank robbery in Lyon who was recently released from prison. As they track down a murderer, the squad confronts their own personal ties to the original case. Will they pursue all leads no matter the outcome or turn a blind eye to protect their own? VERDICT Quirky and engaging characters elevate a somewhat predictable mystery in this humorous novel that is sure to please fans of Jussi Adler-Olsen's "Department Q" stories.--Portia Kapraun, Delphi P.L., IN

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