Death in the Truffle Wood

Five young people have disappeared in the vicinity of Banon in Provence. When Commissaire Laviolette comes to investigate, villager Alyre Morelon immediately demands that the police officer looks into a recent incident when someone tried to kill his Roseline, the best truffle-sniffing pig in the entire area. Laviolette has been sent to Banon because there's nothing remarkable about his appearance and he can blend in anywhere. Well... that's what he tells people. What he's not telling anyone is that his unremarkable visage hides a very observant and intelligent man. When Laviolette obliges Morelon and looks into the incident concerning the pig, he stumbles across something that ties right into the missing persons case he is investigating. Originally published in 1978, some of you young whippersnappers who read Death in the Truffle Wood may miss your computers and cell phones, but this old fogey found their absence refreshing. (It is nice to remember the "good old days" once in a while when detecting didn't seem to rely on gizmos.) Magnan's sense of pacing is sure, and his characterizations show flashes of brilliance. The various plot lines of injured pig, missing young people, heirs to fortunes and philandering spouses were woven together into an intriguing mystery. As much as I enjoyed the mystery, it was Magnan's humor and his depiction of the culture of Provence and its people that really won me over. The "forensic lads from Criminal Records" who loved to race between Marseilles and Banon, the relationship between Roseline and her owner Alyre, the description of a local wedding and the behavior of the guests... these are only three instances that made me laugh and made me feel as though I was getting a feel for the real Provence. Combine all that with a very ordinary-looking and extraordinarily observant policeman, and I find myself with a new and delightful mystery series to continue reading. C'est magnifique!

While I agree with Harriet Klausner that "Death in the Truffle Wood" is a wonderful story (I hope all of Magnan's books will be translated to English), I have a quip with her repeatedly identifying in her review Roseline's (the pig) owner, Alyre Morelon, as a "she"; well, Alyre is a man, and husband to Francine who plays an important role in the story. More Magnan, please!

In Provence, France, Roseline the truffle-finding pig escapes from her owner, Alyre Morelon. She follows her "pet" into the nearby woods. When Alyre catches up to Roseline, she finds someone hurt her sow, but that human beast vanished even deeper into the woods. Marseille-based Commissaire Laviolette comes to Provence to lead the investigation into the vanishing of five young people. However, Alyre, learning that a professional detective is in town, demands Laviolette work her case; identify Roseline's mugger. She insists the criminal has cost her money as Roseline's nasal inclination is how she makes a living and besides the animal was cruelly injured . Other villagers place demands on the Commissaire, who wants rapid resolution to the disappearances so he can quickly return home to the safety of Marseilles and be away from village politicians. Although containing a humorous undercurrent mostly caused by the urban cop out of his element in the rural village filled with eccentric townsfolk, DEATH IN THE TRUFFLE WOOD is a strong police procedural with contrasting darker elements. The local "wars" are cleverly designed to provide amusement and insight as Laviolette struggles with tugs on his efforts to locate the missing people and a killer who sliced a throat and left a corpse in deep freeze. Written in the late 1970s, but just translated, Pierre Magnan provides a fabulous French police procedural that will have American readers seek other translations of his works by Patricia Clancy (see BEYOND THE GRAVE; not yet read by this reviewer). Harriet Klausner