An Uncertain Place, by Fred Vargas, translated by Siân Reynolds
	Just outside the gates of the baroque Highgate Cemetery a pile of shoes is found, containing severed feet. As Scotland Yard's investigation begins, Adamsberg and his colleagues return home to Paris and are confronted with a massacre in a suburban home. Adamsberg and Danglard are drawn in to a trail of vampires and vampire-hunters that leads them all the way to Serbia, a place where the old certainties no longer apply. In Fred Vargas’s riveting new novel, Commissaire Adamsberg finds himself in the line of fire as never before. The critics are unanimous: Libération applauds the novel's "depth and ambition”, Elle praises Vargas's "unequalled talent and imagination”, and Livres Hebdo calls her "the queen of French crime fiction." If you just can't get enough of Vargas, never fear! You can look forward to an upcoming English translation of L'armée furieuse, which was a spectacular hit in France.
Harvill Secker, April 2011, 978-1846554452 , 416 pages, £12.99
Affairs of State, by Dominique Manotti, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Ros Schwartz
Dominique Manotti is back on form with a tale of intrigue and corruption. A call-girl whose black book lists her elite international client is found murdered in an underground garage; a plane bound for Iran laden with illegal arms disappears from the skies over Turkey, and the president’s closest advisor Bornard, head of a controversial Elysée security unit, manipulates the system with consummate ease – and illegality. Until the day when rookie investigator Noria Ghozali determines to untangle the threads which bind these events together. In doing so she penetrates the Elysée’s innermost system, confronts the workings of money and corruption within government, and in the process is forced to combat the institutional – and overt – racism which repeatedly stalls her. Publishing News deems Manotti to be an "excellent French crime writer to set alongside Fred Vargas," and the Tribune warns that Affairs of State "gets under the skin in a way that has rarely been so compelling, and certainly never sexier."
Arcadia Books, June 2010, 978-1906413491, 210 pages, £8.99
The Saint-Florentin Murders, by Jean-François Parot, translated by Howard Curtis
	A chambermaid's throat was cut in unusual circumstances at the home of Monsieur de Saint-Florentin, the King's new minister. Saint-Florentin entrusts Commissioner Le Floch with the case. His inquiry takes place both in Paris and Versailles, where he secures his position alongside the King and must confront the mysteries of the Trianon and the horrors of Bicetre. This fifth exciting adventure for Nicolas Le Floch has it all: serial crimes and a bizarre murder weapon, as well as debauchery, espionage, and the follies of a young court where ancient rivalries and grudges still linger. young court where ancient rivalries and grudges still linger. According to the Mail on Sunday, this novel “reads like a cross between a Maigret mystery and Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” and the Financial Times calls it "an engaging murder mystery that picks away at the delicate power balance between king, police and state."
Gallic Books, October 2010, 978-1906040246, 432 pages £7.99
220 Volts, by Joseph Incardona
Ramon Hill is a successful writer. But over the past few months, he hasn't written anything. His novel is late, the pages stay blank, and his relationship with his wife Margot is deteriorating. She suggests they go to their mountain cabin, to get fresh air and inspiration. The change of atmosphere is beneficial, at first, but Ramon starts to suffer from insomnia. One morning, he wakes to find his wife's corpse at his side... could he have killed her? Joseph Incardona manages to make us doubt his guilt, although all the clues point to him. The false notes accumulate, disrupting the gentle harmony of happiness, and we can only listen, helpless and fascinated, to the chaotic concert of the hero's struggle to conceal a murder he might not even have committed. Lire recommends this "tense and electrifying" novel that puts the reader in the dual position of the detective and the main suspect.
Fayard, March 2011, 978-2213656014, 198 pages, 15 €
Du bois pour les cercueils, by Claude Ragon
	In the middle of winter, in the snowy Jura region of France, the owner of a sawmill is found dead in the workshop, his head and hands crushed by a press. According to the preliminary enquiry, his death is the result of an unfortunate accident. But when the police receives an anonymous letter, they realize that things might not be as simple as they appear... The case goes to superintendent Gardenne and lieutenant Bruchet, a wise old cop who always has a cold, and an ambitious young pup. Follow them on this trail amid dark green forests and lonely lands, far from the crowds of the city and its hectic pace, for a most unusual and strangely relaxing read. Du bois pour les cercueil was awarded the Prix Quai des Orfèvres 2010 by the French police department, for its outstanding literary qualities and realistic investigation. L'Express calls it "one of the best laureates of recent years."
Fayard, November 2010, 978-2213654706, 368 pages, 8,90 €
Les Harmoniques, by Marcus Malte
Remember how we dreamed of justice... Vera Nad, a twenty-six year-old woman with the face of an angel. Dead. Her body, or what was left of it, was found one morning in an abandoned warehouse. The police wrote it off as the petty revenge of a drug dealer. The culprits are quickly arrested. Case closed. Not for everyone. Mister, the pianist with a heart of gold, and Bob, an erudite taxi driver, do not believe in the official version. Vera was their friend, and they owe it to her to uncover the truth. Their quest will lead them from the high spheres of French political life to the faraway banks of the Danube, from the mansions of wealthy princes to mass graves in the Balkans, from past to present. Wherever they go, corruption and evil reign supreme, and only the echoes of the victims' crimes never die. Marcus Malte's writing is as sweet as a melody, as rhythmic as jazz, and, according to L'Express, "elegant, descriptive and poetic."
Gallimard, Janvier 2011, 978-2070127382, 384 pages, 19 €

Whose trail will you follow? Will you accompany Adamsberg as he works out the case of the severed feet, or do you prefer to explore the underworld of the Balkans with Mister and Bob? Whichever book is your main suspect, there will never be a shortage of amazing French crime fiction, so be sure to keep an eye out for English translations!