Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising.
‘My God, how dull.’
Luc Verlain snorted contemptuously when he saw the grey sludge under the Pont François-Mitterand. The sluggishly flowing Garonne made its way towards Bordeaux – and the Atlantic. He had set off from Paris at four in the morning and it had taken Luc five and a half hours to get here. He kept glancing at the speedometer: 120 km/h. Normally, he found it difficult to stick to the 130 km/h speed limit on French motorways. But today he had unconsciously slowed down his old blue Jaguar XJ6 again and again, just as if he wanted to prolong the journey from Paris to the provinces for days. As if he never wanted to arrive. …
Half an hour inland from here lay the vineyards of Saint-Émilion, half an hour to the west the beaches of the Atlantic. How much time he had spent here … It was as if he was sixteen again and condemned to stay here forever. In the last fifteen years, Luc had only come here for a few days at most. After his mother had left the family, Luc was plagued by a guilty conscience: He couldn’t really stand it here in Aquitaine any longer, but he wanted to be there for his father, his lonely father whom he had always admired so much. …
‘Bonjour Tristesse,’ Luc murmured, thinking wistfully of the beautiful Commissariat in Paris, the old walls on the Île de la Cité, the view of the Seine. And of his small flat behind the Musée d’Orsay, surrounded by small shops and hip galleries. …
Now he was supposed to work here – in this grey box in Bordeaux. He bumped over the tram tracks and parked the old Jaguar in front of the commissariat in the no-parking zone.
from: Retour
(my own translation)
no English version available!
Wine, Food, Women and Murder
Living in the lap of luxury … it seems that Luc Verlain hit the jackpot when he returned home to the Atlantic coast in Southern France. In Aquitaine he was born and raised before he hit the road towards Paris to live a new life, an exciting life … all of his dreams came true over there. After a training at the Police Nationale in Bordeaux he started a career in Paris and solved successfully quite a lot of crime cases which made him quickly to Monsieur le Commissaire.
He loves his life in Paris, his team, his cases, his women – although he hasn’t found the love of his life until now as it seems. According to him nothing should change … However, his father is ill now, a cancer disaster, and so Luc decided to return to Aquitaine to live with his father for the next months.
He liked the small house at the Atlantic beach where his father lives who is now in a hospital resp. for treatment at a health resort. His father was an oyster farmer and Luc was at the beach and on the ocean all his childhood and youth to help in the daily business. The oyster farm is sold since some years, but Luc enjoys the culinary specialties of the ocean each day when possible.
Also he revives his passion for surfing – and makes contact to a surf teacher, a young woman from Germany who decides to stay in Bordeaux when off-season starts. Luc is a lady’s man … Then there is also a young colleague at the Police Nationale in Bordeaux …
Luc’s start at his new job is bumpy. All know or seem to know that he’ll be in Bordeaux only for some months … There is another Monsieur le Commissaire in the team who feels aggrieved and scents foul play. So there is rivalry from the beginning and this almost destroys the investigation of a murder case.
From his first day in office Luc is challenged. There is the corpse of a young woman at the beach – and the internal quarrels lead to severe racist actions. Then there seem to be conflicts among winegrowers which leave behind a corpse. Groups voting for protection of the environment create trouble. Wine merchants interfere in wine production. It’s a wine country … However, there is also a drug business! Not to forget that there is sumptuous food and star-studded restaurants … Amid all this good life Luc is caught up with a murder case from Paris, which he never could solve. It seems that suddenly someone wants to take revenge.
In short: all cases are complex and strongly related to Aquitaine and its culture and way of life. Often families and family ties lead to violence under the cover of more economic problems or business competition.
Luc slowly grows accustomed to living in Bordeaux and Aquitaine. He likes the wine and the food, the bars and the restaurants. His team is brilliant. The working atmosphere is better than ever. Suddenly he forgets about returning to Paris …
… and there is Anouk, his young colleague. Luc falls in love with her and she falls in love with him. They decide to live happily ever after – and there is a little daughter sharing their lives.
It’s fun to read the novels about Luc and the Aquitaine – also it’s always suspence-packed. And Aquitaine … you start dreaming of travelling to Aquitaine as soon as possible to get at least a glimpse of the relaxed good life …
