Thrilling… Breathtakingly original… A wildly inventive plot that puts Vargas’s real-life expertise (she is an archaeologist) to brilliant use

I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain, real vintage Vargas: playful, thought-provoking, a total delight. And beautifully translated. Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives

In This Poison Will Remain, Fred Vargas has delivered an absorbing plot full of twists and spiced with her characteristic wit and style. Adamsberg is a terrific creation and his team of misfits a joy to watch in action

Fred Vargas’s books are murder mysteries, yes – cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries – but so much else besides: delicate comedies, engrossing tours of French geography and history, fascinating excursions into folklore and myth

Vargas has as loving and sharp an eye for provincial French eccentrics as Simenon... Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world

France's most acclaimed crime novelist... Her novels about the kindly, quixotic Commissaire Adamsberg are unique, presenting us with a France that resembles Simenon’s in its concreteness

Adamsberg [is] one of my favourite fictional detectives. Vargas is a wonderful writer, quirky, endearing and always surprising

Few contemporary crime thrillers can match Vargas's soaring imaginative flights

Vargas writes with strength, erudition and unique imagination… In the crowded world of crime fiction, she’s a valuable one-off

A master of her craft

Brilliant and so well-written

Fred Vargas is great

Wry humour and offbeat plots blend with a subtly dangerous charm to make Fred Vargas the queen of French crime writers

Readers hungry for an adventure that combines the depth and detail of a satisfying police procedural with a devilish mystery won’t rest till they find out. Vargas remains the gold standard in modern crime fiction

This book examines how a shared event can change the course of many lives at once. And if you like strongly drawn characters and a mix of humor and heartbreak, this one's for you

A witty, lighthearted romp...Backman charms

A deeply funny and warm examination of how individual experiences can bring a random group of people together. Backman reveals each character's many imperfections with tremendous empathy, reminding us that people are always more than the sum of their flaws

A tight-knit, surprise-filled narrative. The brisk, absorbing action prompts meditation on marriage, parenting, responsibility, and global economic pressures. Comedy, drama, mystery, and social study, this novel is undefinable except for the sheer reading pleasure it delivers. Highly recommended

Backman's latest novel focuses on how a shared event can change the course of multiple people's lives even in times of deep and ongoing anxiousness. A story with both comedy and heartbreak sure to please Backman fans

Brilliant, funny, and compassionate . . . wonderfully charming

A compassionate story of imperfect people doing the best they can to navigate life in an imperfect world

This book promises laughs, heartwarming drama, and a whole lot of madness, but at the heart of it is something we can all relate to: being human

Praise for Fredrik Backman

I utterly believed in the residents of Beartown, and felt ripped apart by the events in the book

Surrounded by impenetrable forests, [Beartown] recreates the stifling atmosphere of a dying community. This is a mature, compassionate novel