The Honest Folk of Guadeloupe

October 20, 2014
At the start of Williams’s absorbing second Anne Marie Laveaud mystery set in Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies (after 2013’s Another Sun), the investigating judge looks into the alleged suicide of environmentalist Rodolphe Dugain. Anne Marie’s persistence makes some powerful people uneasy. When a French nurse is found murdered on a beach, Anne Marie is diverted to help solve the case before European tourists panic and cancel vacations crucial to the local economy. Anne Marie’s clerk/factotum, Alphonse Trousseau, provides quirky commentary laden with insights about the legacies of colonialism, such as nuanced racism, official corruption, and troubled interactions between men and women. She herself is a less sympathetic character, often exhausted and bewildered by the demands of her job and single motherhood. Short chapters and a sometimes elliptical style make the narrative disjointed in places, but armchair travelers who enjoy mysteries with a strong sense of place should welcome this foray into the French Caribbean. Agent: Massimiliano Zantedeschi, Trentin e Zantedeschi Literary Agency (Italy).

Barbara Rosenblat's elegant French enunciation and gutsy portrayal of Anne Marie Laveaud make this mystery ever more entertaining. Laveaud is a seasoned French-Algerian judge who is assigned to two high-profile investigations in 1990s Guadeloupe--the suicide of a prestigious environmentalist and the murder of a white female tourist found on the beach. When Laveaud is removed from the suicide case, she becomes suspicious. Rosenblat portrays her characters with intriguing verve, adding pizzazz to the plot's twists and turns. As Laveaud gingerly tiptoes between damaging Guadeloupe's tourism and getting close to identifying killer's motives, Rosenblat reveals the strength and courage that are necessary for Laveaud to stay the course. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine