A Song For Drowned souls by Bernard Minier

Author : Bernard Minier
Title : A Song For Drowned Souls
Published : 10/03/2016
Pages : 480
Genre : Crime Thriller
Publisher : Mulholland Books







     The wronged do not rest in peace. Marsac is a quiet town in the Pyrenees, best known for its elite university. But when one of the professors is found drowned in her bath, it becomes clear that the tranquil surface is a lie. The chief suspect is the son of Commandant Servaz's university sweetheart; and when she implores him to investigate, he cannot refuse. To close the case, Servaz must delve into his own past and re-open old wounds. It will be his most dangerous - and his most personal - investigation yet.

     This is not the first time I have come to be in the company of with both author and his Commandant Servaz series. The first book in the series The Frozen Dead was one of my favorites of last year. It also gave me a great reason to look at other French crime author and give them a bit more of my time. With the first book ending the way it did, I knew that the echoes of that story would ripple through this book. so I was couriers to see how this would play out, but also to see the Commandant would tackle a new case.

     Servaz is another in those long lines of dour and driven detective that the European crime writers do so well. I can't say that if he was a real person that I would want to spend a great deal of time with, if on the other hand, you want someone to solves a complex murder, he would definitely be the man for the job. Throughout the book, he is still struggling with the events of The Frozen Dead, for Servaz this is much more of a cerebral thing. The author doesn't rehash what took place, it works more like a shadow cast over him. For me, This works well as more time can then be devoted to this story. Unlike the previous book, the commandant is more the lone wolf with his supporting cast of police officers being interchangeable. I felt the author was trying to dig deeper into who Servaz is as a person, Thus making the story as a whole a much more personal affair. This does lead to a plot with less action in than before.

     I suppose going in that I was expecting a book much like the first, and in some ways it is. The style remains the same even if the murders that take place are on a slightly less grand stage. Through his witting, he has created a world that was easy for me to see before my eyes. The story is very well plotted and even the smallest detail can come back later and impact the story in a big way. This was a long book and only a couple of times was I left feeling it had strayed from the path, luckily it didn't take long to find it's way back.   This falls into the category of police procedural, so if like me and not from France you will notice the differences between the way crimes are investigated by our own countries. I feel like there is enough explication given that much like me it shouldn't take long to get your head around it and to be honest it never distracted me from the story as a whole. Overall the story was a fantastic journey to go on, he has once again built up a mystery that pulled me in from the first few pages and lead me on many a twist and turns on the way.

     This book took me a few days to make my way through and is one that you will keep your mind on its toes. Well plotted and delivers a solid crime mystery, I would say that you really need to have read the first book before jumping into this one as part will make little sense otherwise. I would happily recommend both books to anyone I suggest you give them ago.