Linda E. reviewed on 1/20/2013 + 14 more book reviews

Summary: After meeting an improbable priest in Paris who spouts an even-less-probable story about a clairvoyant corporal in the French Foreign Legion (the priests brother in law who may or may not have been an oil company geologist), Sergeant Jacog Studer returns to his home base (Switzerland) to find two elderly sisters (whom he/readers will learn were both once married to the same man) gassed to death in their flats in Bern and Baseljust as he had been foretold by that strange priest. Smitten by Marie (the supposed niece of that priest is she really the secretary or lover to the priest or the dead man), Sgt Studer (with a minor assist from his long-suffering wife) plows through an array of hidden (and changing) identities, coded messages and nefarious tricks (including clues and suspects disappearing) to crack the case. Among the subtexts to this double-murder investigation are themes that still resonate today a fight over a distant oil field prized by Shell and Standard, corrupt colonial outposts and missionaries trying to convert Muslims to Christianity until the Sgt finds his answers at last in Morocco.

Reviews: I agree (with Publ Weekly) that this is a well-done classic mystery,d that Glauser's droll style enliven the tale (with Booklist), that its plot is complex and absorbing (with Eurocrime), that it has nearly feverish excitement (with the NY Times) and that its humor shows that Glauser was having fun writing it (with International Noir) and makes for a fine ride with an old master (with Kirkus)

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