Wine of God, holy wine!
Coup de rouge en Touraine
Cheminements,
2003
(320 pages)
|
Rouge sur blanc...
Cheminements,
2005
(400 pages)
|
Le Crime
nouveau est arrivé
Cheminements,
2006
(340 pages)
|
Robert
Reumont |
Sophie Colpaert
Translation:
Three books from the same author, Robert
Reumont, for a series that began in 2003 and presents an unusual
trio of detectives – an inspector
who is a wine connoisseur, his dozy sidekick and an extremely attractive
intern.
Keen
to see her boss in action, Wyvine Denier anticipates the start of
her work experience and bursts on to the scene of a crime. Her leather
shorts and short low-cut white top fail to put the lid on judge Cormiaud's
indignation, while chief inspector Boistôt
thanks heaven for sending him such a pretty and lively intern. He
is delighted to note that Wyvine is also a rebel who is supremely
irritated by society's hypocrisy. The witty remarks in which she
expresses this sparkle like champagne and to hell with her interlocutor's
social standing and the influence they might wield over her budding
career. Inspector Joseph Marnay, a professional blunderer, eggs her
on. Boistôt's sidekick also feels quite cheered by Wyvine's
presence. For their first case together (Coup
de rouge sur Touraine,
A dash of red in Touraine ), the threesome are confronted with the
murder of Hubert Bréhémont , a loner in his 70s and
a retired doctor. Hubert, who was widowed many years earlier, used
to allow his two neighbours, Solange and Alice, to mother him and
would express his thanks by sharing the treasure in his cellar with
them. Not the modest cellar in his house in Touraine, no, his real
cellar, ‘the cathedral', hundreds of bottles in rows, lovingly collected
and preserved to be shared and passed on. Ah, but Hubert's only daughter
was unmoved by the art of wine and ‘the cathedral' aroused nothing
but jealousy, to the great regret of its owner. Who would have been
jealous enough of that cellar to kill Hubert Bréhémont?
Placide Boistôt, himself a wine buff distressed that a wine-lover
might have committed such an evil deed, attempts to follow the trail
of the wine labels that are stuck up in his path wherever he goes.
If they hold the key to the mystery … it is well concealed!
A few months later
(Rouge sur blanc…, Red on white),
as Christmas approaches, Placide Boistôt and Wyvine are summoned
to help Joseph, who is staying in Alsace with his in-laws. Martin
Keiler, a wine-grower, has been murdered and his sister Ségolène
Keiler is the chief suspect. And what sacrilege! the murder weapon
is a bottle of the late-harvested vintage that won Martin his first
and only prize. Ségolène Keiler, who was quicker than
her brother to find success in her profession, has no alibi for the
time of the crime and there were many tensions in the family. The
only thing missing is irrefutable proof, which Luc Weininger, the
young chief inspector in charge of the investigation, cannot find.
He delays an interrogation intended to make the suspect crack and
grave family concerns prevent him from devoting himself single-mindedly
to his first big case. Just following his kind heart Joseph asks
Placide and Wyvine to come and solve the crime. Chary of encroaching
on territory that does not belong to him, Boistôt hesitates
but Wyvine decides for him! In any case the chief inspector is coming
to the end of his stock of Gewurztraminer – a significant argument! – while
she is looking forward to sampling the edible pleasures of Alsace
in December. Sniffing the air of Turckheim and the area around the
Keiler estate, the three detectives discover that about this time
of nativity the little town is often in mourning. A few days before
Martin Keiler's murder a child was killed on the dangerous crossing
on the edge of town. The hit-and-run driver made off. So if you ask
yourself whether Martin might have seen something, then maybe you
have the beginning of a trail to follow …
Next spring (Le
Crime nouveau est arrivé, The
nouveau crime is here) it is Jean-Louis, the Fleurie wine-grower,
who depends on the flair and experience of his friend Placide and
his two assistants. Sylvain Ardières is accused of killing
Patrick Moissier. The two men hated each other with a passion but
managed to turn a blind eye. Till the village feast, where they violently
locked horns. Sylvain went off yelling in a rage and next day Moissier
was found dead with a head wound in front of his house. What might
be an accident has been interpreted as a crime because witnesses
saw Sylvain nearby. That, added to the fight and their longstanding
hostility, lands Sylvain in prison accused of a crime, with determined
silence as his sole defence. The sympathy of the village is with
him. Moissier, the salesman, with his fine airs, irritated several
people but not enough to kill him. Only Sylvain appears to have stored
up enough resentment to go that far. His friends, among them Jean-Louis
who knows him well, think he is incapable of killing. But that is
not sufficient to get him out of jail. So Placide, Wyvine and Joseph
get down to a new investigation in wine country, wandering from one
cellar to another chasing clues. Who said you had to get a hangover
to do some serious work?
Robert Reumont's novels seem light, claiming only to entertain readers
by taking them, along with an agreeable trio of detectives, around
places where the wine is good, and the food too, all without getting
obsessed. The style is as whimsical as the characters. Delicious
language, rich and fulsome, that cheers the spirit, nourishes the
mind and appeases the nerves irritated by the modern world's stupidness
and aggression. They also have the power to influence readers' view
of the world around them, and encourage them to be more tolerant.
Finally, in tune with the central theme claimed by the author for
his crime fiction series, we learn a lot about the world of wine
and the people who make it. These books are to be tasted in moderation.
And even better with a glass of wine to hand.
>> Meet Robert Reumont
in conversation here!
