Ceux qui vont mourir te saluent, Fred Vargas

Ceux qui vont mourir te saluent (Those who are about to die salute you) is one of French writer Fred Vargas' first novels. It is also the first novel from that author that I read. I must say I fell into it right after the first page. It is the story of three young mens living in Rome who all wear Roman emperor names. Claude, Tibère and Néron. Claude's father, Mr. Valhubert hears about an unknown work from Michelangelo which appeared on the public market and which can only come from the Vatican Library. He comes to Rome and is immediatly assassinated. There begins a complicated inquiry in which Valence, a French jurist has to find the truth in what the three emperors and their protectors may say. The story is full of manipulation and the reality is often distorted. The whole book is tinted with the Roman Catholic Church. Through the author's writing, we have access to some aspects of the higher scales of the Church without going too much into useless details. It is definitively not a book about church and religion.

I liked a lot the direct genre of the author which is always straight to the point, unpretentious (although the characters are pretentious!). Chapters are sometimes long, sometimes only a page. It keeps the reader alert. As for the characters, I think the three emperors are very charming in their peculiar way. Neron's self-esteem and weird habits are worth the reading. He is the guy who doesn't think. He only sees. It reminded me of that song from Iggy Pop, the song about the thinking fish. Anyway, Neron is too intellectual to even think. The characters are all very nice and well-developed. However, I must admit I did not get why they are all so obsessed with Laura (Claude's stepmother, you'll see, she seems to be quite the hot bomb). Too me, she has a very tiny role in the novel and do not deserve all the attention she gets.

Verdict: a very good polar to read on the bus. If you are really into polars, buy it. I'll definitely read other stuff from Fred Vargas from now on. If you usually don't like that type of books, try it nevertheless. You might realize you like it!