The Murdered House
A Seraphin
Monge Mystery
Pierre
Magnan
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-36720-1 (0312367201)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36720-6 (9780312367206)
Publication Date: November 2009
List Price: $24.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): At the turn of the century in Upper Provence, a family
is violently massacred. The sole survivor of the tragedy is a
three-week-old baby.
Twenty years later, the orphaned survivor returns home to avenge his
family’s killers. But for each murder he plots, another hand
silently executes it in his place. He wins the hearts of two women,
Marie and rose, and romantic complications ensue. But then unexpected
secrets set in motion a dreadful unveiling of the past ...
Review: The Murdered House, written by
Pierre Magnan in 1984 and winner of France's Best Novel of the Year
Award that year, received an English translation 1999. Minotaur Books
is now re-releasing the translated book as a hardcover.
Seraphin Monge was just 18 days old when his parents, brothers, and
grandfather were brutally murdered. Raised in orphanages, he returns to
his ancestral home in Provence 23 years later and is told that his
family's killers were soon identified and subsequently executed. But
torn by visions of death around him, he begins to dismantle the house
he was born in, discovering a box with a large number of gold coins
hidden within its walls. He then learns that the wrong men were accused
of his family's murders, that the real killers are still alive.
Believing the motive behind the murders is connected to the hidden
gold, Seraphin is determined to mete out justice at last.
Translated novels can sometimes be difficult to review from a stylistic
perspective; one never knows how much of the translation is literal and
how much interpretative. And something here seems to be lost in
translation, as it were. Despite an atmospheric and moody setting, the
narrative, especially when Seraphin is present, feels rather flat,
generating little suspense. Early in the book, for example, Seraphin
goes about the destruction of his house in a methodical manner, robotic
and indifferent, a man striking back the only way he knows how at those
who killed his family but not really feeling any joy or sorrow from his
acts. Even when he discovers the gold and realizes his family's killers
are alive, he's oddly emotionless. Whether this is the author's intent
or not is unknown. The house, named La Burliere and referred to as if a
character in the story, is often a stronger presence than Seraphin, as
illustrated by the following passage: "Life was ebbing away from the
building with every stone that hit the ground and every piece of lime
that quietly disintegrated. Its lamentation could be heard in the voice
of the tall holly-oaks moaning in the wind."
The plot becomes more animated during the second half of the book but
also seems less original, more derivative. Still, The Murdered House is an
interesting novel overall, and one worth experiencing.
Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of The Murdered House for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Murdered House? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
The Murdered House
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), November 2009
ISBN-10: 0-312-36720-1 (0312367201)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36720-6 (9780312367206)
Omnimystery keywords for The Murdered House ...
Location(s) referenced: Provence, France.
