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I had read almost all titles in this series featuring Enzo MacLeod, a former Scottish forensic scientist now working for a university in Toulouse. But the first in the series had eluded me. Until now. French Literary Prizes – Prix Ancres Noires des Lecteurs". Lesandresnoies.com . Retrieved 9 February 2011. This is the first book in 'The Enzo Files' by Peter May. I enjoy reading Peter May's work and decided to start this series which are the only books I haven't read by him. I love the way he writes and he has this way where he actually writes excellent novels but at the same time manages to teach you things. I had previously read his series based in China where I learnt so much about the culture as well as enjoying the series. This time the series is based in France so I expect more of the same. I found this book a good solid read and a good foundation for the rest of the series. While the book wasn't a classic it did manage to set the scene for the series and introduce the major characters.
If you can suspend disbelief for the artificiality of the construct, then there’s a lot to like about the book. My favourite character by far is Bertrand, written off by Enzo as a suitable suitor for his beloved daughter, because he’s got facial piercings, works in a gym and leaves his metal detector lying around Enzo’s flat, just waiting to be tripped over. He is also the only Westerner to have been an honorary member of the Chinese Crime Writers Association’s Beijing Chapter. With numerous other awards and honors, May has some way of captivating readers and scratching their itch for an intriguing murder mystery. Peter May’s series featuring former forensics expert Enzo Macleod, a Scotsman living in France, started with Extraordinary People, first published in the USA in 2006 and now brought to a UK audience by Quercus. I enjoyed May’s series set on the Isle of Lewis, and this one perked my interest, being set in France and mentioning the Paris catacombs. Discovering that Enzo lives in Cahors, a town I know well, was a bonus. MY THOUGHTS: I love Peter May's writing. He paints vivid pictures with his words. He evokes emotions. He is a master of his craft. An oblique prologue hints at a dark crime in 1996 Paris. In the present, Scottish biologist Enzo Macleod, who’s worked for law enforcement in his native land, comes to the City of Lights with two goals. His first ends in failure when his estranged daughter Kirsty, now settled in Paris, slams the door in his face because she still hasn’t forgiven him for leaving her mother. Enzo meets with journalist Roger Raffin, who specializes in unsolved crimes, concerning his second goal: unraveling the mystery surrounding Jacques Gaillard, a high-profile TV pundit who vanished ten years ago. Enzo feels an inexplicably strong bond with the eclectic Gaillard, whose passions were intellectual rather than carnal. The trail unfolds as a series of mini-mysteries, most with strong puzzle elements. Enzo confirms his hunch, through a DNA test of blood traces found on the altar of a church he frequented, that Gaillard was murdered. Then it’s time to reconstruct Gaillard’s skull from discovered fragments. As the case becomes more complicated and dangerous, Enzo’s elder daughter Sophie and Raffin’s estranged wife Charlotte, with whom Enzo becomes involved, get caught in the cross hairs. Raffin plays Watson to Enzo’s Holmes as they piece the tantalizing clues together.Le Telegramme newspaper feature about Peter May winning Grand Prix". Letelegramme.fr. 25 May 2012 . Retrieved 12 May 2015. Theakston Award Winners". Harrogateinternationalfestivals.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016 . Retrieved 18 September 2015. If there is a downside, it is the annoying characters – women falling over themselves for a glimpse up Enzo’s figurative kilt, the two daughters from different marriages, the manipulative Charlotte, one-time lover of Roger Raffin - my favourite character out of a sad bunch. He is elegant and elusive, putting in cameo appearances, knowing the right people to dig them out of difficulties, a man epitomised by his apartment. a b "Theakston's Shortlist Crime Novel of the Year". Harrogateinternationalfestivals.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 . Retrieved 25 September 2014.
Being so well crafted there is no headlong rush into the unknown. The pace is necessarily slow giving the reader time to absorb the many clues. Clues that will take Enzo and friends the length and breadth of France. A new teccy series for me, set on the continent & so a chance to explore some Parisian culture as well, diversifying into diffo cultures being a favoured thing to my mind when reading.Killers from the past will stop at nothing to halt Enzo, who must use all his forensic skills to solve the case - before they succeed. The Enzo Files is a series of five novels with one on the way. The series tell the story of Enzo Macleod, a half-Scottish, half-Italian former forensic scientist that is forced to use his skills once again to solve old cold-cases in France. In the first novel of this series, Extraordinary People (also published as Dry Bones) Enzo is sent on a disturbing scavenger hunt for body parts around France. In the first book of the Enzo Files, ex forensic scientist Enzo Macleod makes a daring wager and attempts to solve the ten-year-old case of a vanished man
The first book in the series serves as an introductory book and establishes the tone of the stories. The story starts with Margaret Campbell, a forensic pathologist based in Chicago. Grand Prix des Lecteurs du Télégramme [43] (2012) L'Homme de Lewis (The Lewis Man) winner of the Prix des Lecteurs du Télégramme, 10,000 Euro Readers' Prize of French daily newspaper. [44] No one was ever convicted of her murder. But now, forensic expert Enzo Macleod is reviewing this stone-cold case - the toughest of those he has been challenged to solve. With Sophie, Bertrand and his bouncy, ingenuous assistant Nicole in tow, Enzo travels what seems like almost the length and breath of France following and solving a clever collection of clues. The climax, played out deep beneath Paris, provides a very fitting finale. Enzo Macleod is very definitely no Robert Langdon and Extraordinary People is no worse for that! Hidden Faces (Piatkus 1981), published as The Man With No Face (St Martin's Press 1982), (Riverrun 2019)
She is not living a happy life. Failing to achieve happiness and being riddled with heartbreak, she wants to leave this unhappy life in America. The Critic (published in United States as A Vintage Corpse by Poisoned Pen Press, 2007), (Quercus, 2013)
Peter May is a method writer. For his highly successful China Thriller series, he made trips to China and studied every little detail to create stories that are rooted in accuracy. The Enzo Files series is just as detailed and accurate as the China Thriller series. Enzo has a research assistant named Nicole, a sexy, bodacious farm girl with a gifted mind who is bathing him in pheromones that he finds difficult to resist. There is also Charlotte, who is the first woman since his second wife to make him feel all gooey inside. She is the most recent lover of his fellow investigator Raffin, which provides added tension to an already frayed relationship. He knows he is being followed and wonders how far the government will go to keep him from learning the truth. On top of all that, he has the two daughters, one who is vying for his attention and the other who wants him to drop dead. His life might be unduly complicated, but his mind is more alive than it has been in a long time, and the chase is becoming as beguiling as the charms of the alluring Charlotte. French Literary Prizes – Prix Ancres Noires des Lecteurs". Lesancresnoires.com . Retrieved 7 July 2010. Ten years ago, Jacques Gaillard disappeared without trace. Journalist Roger Raffin is convinced that he’s been murdered, but there’s never been any evidence of that, despite several investigations. Enzo Macleod is determined to see if he can succeed where others have failed and, as a result of a possibly rather ill-advised bet, he has 2,000 Euros he can’t afford to lose riding on the outcome. Seven years on and the mystery still raw, Enzo Macleod, forensic investigator, forays into the heated world of haute cuisine to uncover bitter feuds and a burning secret.
Awards and Nominations
Macleod doesn’t intend to let this happen. He has a bet that he can solve this case….and he needs both the money and the satisfaction of doing so. The Firemaker ( Hodder & Stoughton 1999), ( St Martin's Press 2005), (Poisoned Pen Press 2008), (Quercus E-books 2012), (Riverrun 2016)
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