Joss le Guern is a town crier in Pariss 14th arrondissement. He calls out thelocal news three times a day to all who will listen. Over the course of a fewdays h... » 

Joss le Guern is a town crier in Pariss 14th arrondissement. He calls out thelocal news three times a day to all who will listen. Over the course of a fewdays however a number of enigmatic and disturbing messages are slipped in tothe daily news and he becomes increasingly alarmed. Superintendent Adamsbergis visited by an extremely troubled woman who has found strange marks on thedoor of her building upside down 4s marked out in black paint. This and theappearance of the frightening messages are exactly the kind of mysteriesAdamsberg loves. In the course of his inquiries he begins to sense a sinisterand often grotesque menace. And when a charred corpse is found Adamsberg knowshes dealing with a particularly serious and chilling case. Have Mercy on usAll is Fred Vargass masterpiece so far. She is exceptional at building moodand tension and as Henning Mankell portrays the social realities ofcontemporary Sweden in his Inspector Wallander mysteries so Vargas does thesame for Paris and France. «