The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths is the first in a series by Barde-Cabuçon, but it’s the only one currently translated to English. Hopefully, they’ll get around to the rest soon because I really enjoyed it.

The story takes place in 1759 Paris, somewhere between the shiny halls of Versailles ruled by debauched Louis XV and his cohorts, and the dirty, dangerous hovels of Parisian suburbs inhabited by the desperately poor. The general population of Paris is seething with resentment, misery, and anger, on the brink of revolution, while the elites seem oblivious to both the inequity and the risks.

On the streets of Paris, a horribly mutilated body of a young woman is discovered; the inquiry into her death quickly leads into dangerous territory – to the boudoirs of Versailles, where terminally bored Louis XV is mostly preoccupied with his newest sexual conquests. The detective who has taken on the case is Chevalier de Volnay, named the Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths by Louis XV himself as a reward for saving the king’s life two years prior. The case becomes rather complicated. We’ve got Louis XV and his extremely influential mistress Madame de Pompadour, the mysterious Count Saint-Germain, Church fundamentalists, Freemasons, secret societies, desperate prostitutes, and would-be alchemists. Even the famous Giacomo Casanova, famous lover, womanizer, spy, courtier, scammer, memorialist, and adventurer, plays a significant role. He was one of my favorites actually. The Inspector himself seems to be the only honest, moral man in Paris. His partner, a monk, is brilliant and has a fascinating history of his own.

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths is not exactly a traditional mystery. Yes, we have a murder and yes the detective goes about solving it, but that plot is almost secondary to the relationships, secrets, and society games. The mystery does get solved in the meantime, right between the romantic drama and the political intrigue. It cares more about characters’ personalities, dreams, and needs than clues. It’s a bit meandering, with detailed descriptions of clothing, food, interiors, and conversations, but for me that was part of its charm.

“Historical mystery” is a genre I love, but don’t read enough of. The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths was a good mystery with plenty of drama and a touch of romance. It was a good way to start my reading year.

A historical thriller set during the reign of Louis XV that shines with detail and description. I was expecting something far more courtly, especially once I realised Casanova was a key character, however it was a much more varied novel than I expected. Whilst the machinations of Madame Pompadour were definitely present, there was also a lot of other motivations present that I did not expect, such as secret societies and religious tensions. If you are looking for immersion in a highly detailed historical novel then this author may just rival Sansom and Mantel for your attention.

Paints a fascinating portrait of Paris in the 18th century - murky and mysterious and full of murder.

An interesting premise but sadly disappointing. The story is difficult to follow, particularly in this layout, causing the reader to loose interest. The book contain se dark and depressing themes.

The full review is available on my blog: https://reenchantmentoftheworld.blog/2020/11/18/olivier-barde-cabucon-the-inspector-of-strange-and-unexplained-deaths-2020/.

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths, from now on TISUD for the sake of me finishing this review this year and you ever reading it in full, is the first instalment in a 7-book series, a recipient of a Prix Sang d’encre for 2012, and the only Barde-Cabuçon book currently translated to English. Published by Pushkin Vertigo imprint in their series of non-English mysteries and crime novels, it had earlier existed on the market under a probably less sellable but more faithful to the original title, Casanova and a Faceless Woman. So, if you’ve read Casanova, TISUD is not a sequel, but the same exact book, just republished 😉. Ooof. Since this book is about mysterious, mistaken and hidden identities, the whole affair with the English title is simply delightfully ironic.

TISUD is a historical crime novel, and a very peculiar one at that. It takes place in 1759 in decadent Paris, somewhere between the shiny halls of Versailles ruled by debauched Louis XV and his cohorts, and the dirty, dangerous hovels of Parisian suburbs inhabited by the desperate poor. The social climate is the most compelling character in this novel, as the general population of Paris is seething with resentment, misery and anger, and seems on a brink of revolution, while the decadent elites seem oblivious to both the inequity and the inherent risks (and since it’s historical fiction, TISUD gets this part to a t).

On the streets of Paris, a horribly mutilated body of a young woman is discovered; the inquiry into her death quickly leads into a very dangerous territory – to the boudoirs of  Versailles, where terminally bored Louis XV is mostly preoccupied with his newest sexual conquests, be they consensual or not, or even adult or not. But since the inquirer in question is Chevalier de Volnay, named the Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths by Louis XV himself as a reward for saving the king’s life two years prior, we may hope he’ll get to the bottom of the case. And what a case it is, linking Louis XV, his extremely influential mistress Madame de Pompadour, the mysterious Count Saint-Germain, the Enlightenment philosophers, Church fundamentalists, Freemasons, secret societies conspiring in a very Ra's al Ghul style to topple existing social order and put themselves on top, desperate prostitutes and would-be alchemists, and many, many more – and last, but not least, none other than Chevalier de Seingalt, the famous lover, womanizer, spy, courtier, scammer, memorialist and adventurer Giacomo Casanova.

As I mentioned on GR, this novel seems very French to me. What I mean by it is that TISUD doesn’t concern itself too much with the criminal mystery at its core – it is much more interested in exploring the human relationships, the secrets of human hearts and minds, the social games played by big and small. Blackmail, verbal sparring, double entendres, innuendos – this seems the true forte of Barde-Cabuçon. The mystery gets solved in the meantime, right between the romantic drama and the political intrigue. In that context, TISUD reminded me very much of Theophile Gautier’s novel, Captain Fracasse, via Alexander Dumas’s Count of Monte Christo, or even Gustave Flaubert’s books, where the plot often serves as a background for the true drama of the clash between characters’ personalities, between their dreams, needs and reality. It’s also written in a charmingly old-fashioned style, with long, unusually structured sentences, stilted conversations and much care for social niceties. It might be the style, or the translation - after all, English and French are structurally different enough for it to matter.

TISUD is a meandering affair; many pages are spent on the detailed description of clothing, food, interiors, lazy conversations. Even more – on the intangible tortures of hearts and souls. There’s a bit of a social commentary, a delightful sprinkling of historical figures and events – such as the aforementioned assassination attempt on Louis XV by Damiens, so meticulously described by Michel Foucault in his seminal work, Discipline and Punishment, or the mystery surrounding Saint-Germain.

All in all, The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths is an interesting addition to the popular mystery/crime genre. If you’d like something a bit different to the usual American fare, a mystery wrapped in a period drama/romance and tied with a nice ribbon of historical social commentary, this might be just the book for you.

Score: 7.5/10

Paris in the mid-18th Century and King Louis XV is becoming more despotic by the week.  Whilst the aristocracy remain in fear, Madame de Pompadour acts as a procuress for her erstwhile lover's increasingly perverse needs.  Meanwhile the general populace is plotting revolution.  When the body of a young girl is found, horribly mutilated, Volnay is called in to investigate as the clues lead straight to court.  
This was such a confusing book.  The plot wheels around turns back on itself and in the end isn't really satisfying.  there were several too many secret societies and characters whose motivation and loyalties seem to turn in an instance.  What could have been a really strong historical detective novel just became far too complicated and confusing for me

this was a great historical mystery, i loved the setting that they used and the characters that were in this story. I enjoyed going through this book.

What an excellent historical mystery! It's well researched, full of twists and turns and it kept me hooked turning pages as fast as I could.
I loved the mix of historical and fictional characters, the vivid historical background and the tightly knitted plot.
It was like travelling to Versailles and discovering court intrigues and mysteries.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

"The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths" is a period piece, set in 1700's France in the Court of Louis XV. The book is full of intrigue, mysterious societies, mysterious 'people', murder, governmental unrest and spies, lots and lots of spies...EVERYONE spies...on everyone else.  :D

Multiple historic figures make an appearance. The court of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, Le Comte de St. Germain, Casanova, etc. and the book is well researched and gives voice and life to these figures from the past. The actual mystery, the 'strange and unexpected death' of a literally faceless young woman weaves throughout the court intrigue and political maneuverings. Volnay, our protagonist is sublimely unconcerned with all of these shenanigans or so he would like to appear as he attempts to solve the mystery of a faceless young woman, but keeps getting drawn further and further into multiple political, social and religious plots.

I enjoyed the characterizations. The mysterious goings on kept one intrigued. My favorite characters were a suitably mysterious monk and a magpie. My only complaint is that a lot of the time the story changes from one characters viewpoint to anothers unexpectedly and with no warning. The plot line gets jerked around almost as much as poor Volnay does. The strange and unexplained deaths are finally solved in a suitably twisty fashion. 

thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this arc. It was greatly enjoyed and I look forward to further translations of Chevalier Volnay's exploits.

First thing, I don’t read much Historical Fiction, because I think they move slow and its tough to keep my concentration! But, I loved this book. I’m not sure why people hated this. Its got everything you expect in a historical novel + the bonus part of fast read mystery!

Its pre-revolution King Louis XV’s 1700 Paris. After a mutilated body shows up, the Inspector of Strange and Unexplained deaths is called in for investigation. The story is straightforward, but it has different focus mediums - mystery, crime & politics. The Inspector, Volnay is more like a vintage FBI crime department officer like character whom I liked! The ending was a bit off, cos HE should have died, but again its fiction!! So cheers 🍻 

Thank you Netgalley, author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion!

The book is set in Paris of the 1700s, and has appearances from many historical characters, including King Louis XV; the King’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour; the Venetian, Giacomo Casanova (yes, THE Casanova), the Comte de Saint Germain; and Antoine de Sartine, the head of the police in Paris. Although the plot initially seems fairly straightforward (if quite gruesome), it quickly becomes complex and political, with the involvement of the King and some of the dark-ish activities going on in and around his court. In addition to the rich historical background, I enjoyed the various plot threads and complexities, and liked following along with the main protagonist, Volnay, as he investigated. I unfortunately read this book during the week, with the result that I had a couple of nights when I didn’t get quite as much sleep as I really needed, since I had trouble putting it down.

In the end, my only minor complaint is that I had trouble believing that the wound Volnay receives near the end wouldn’t have been fatal, especially with the medical care available in the 1700s. However, somehow it doesn’t kill him, and please note - this isn’t even really a spoiler, since there are several more titles in the series already written in the original French. So it’s obvious, if a bit hard to credit, that he survives. One other minor wish is that there would have been some historical notes, telling more about the background of the book, and which other characters and events, besides the really well-known ones, were also historical.

Neither of these complaints is serious though, and I’m very hopeful that more titles will get translated into English. I’ll definitely read them if they are! I struggled a little bit over whether to give this book four or five stars, and if I could have given it a 4 ½, I would have. Please note, though, that I tend to be pretty conservative in awarding stars, only giving five stars to maybe one in thirty or forty books. So in the end, I went with four stars – but that is still a great rating from me and means I really recommend a book.

In pre-Revolution France, a police detective has managed to procure himself a specific and distinct post: the Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths. Whenever a particularly unusual murder occurs, Volnay is called in. On a spring night in 1759, the body of a young woman is found, and her face is simply gone. Volnay arrives on the scene immediately to assess the surroundings, to look carefully at the body, and to question any witnesses. Making the situation even more noteworthy: The man who discovered the body is none other than the infamous Casanova.

Volnay ends up spending quite a bit of time with the Venetian well-known for his sexual exploits, though he’d much rather not have to collaborate with such a man. Volnay also finds himself often in the company of a strikingly beautiful young woman, an Italian as well, who is intelligent, scientific-minded, curious — and utterly frustrating. The three work together, in a way, to collect clues and talk to various suspects. But Volnay can’t truly trust them, or anyone, except for the erstwhile monk who aids him in his investigations, particularly by performing careful examinations of the bodies of victims.

The inspector faces danger everywhere he turns and has to proceed very carefully as he tries to solve the initial murder, then a subsequent similar killing. The debauched king himself may be responsible for the young woman’s death, and secret societies have spies and assassins everywhere trying to keep Volnay from learning what they need to keep hidden.

"The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths" places a Sherlock Holmes-style investigator into a historical setting where he’s in many ways ahead of his time; his methods, even so, are not entirely implausible for the era. So the book combines murder mystery with historical fiction. Readers are plunged into a time where the French monarchy is on its last legs, and certain groups and the citizenry are ready to revolt against the abuses of the king. Madame le Pompadour is a prominent character, doing all she can to keep some level of control over the king and hold a place for herself in court. Science both looks forward and back, as many characters are still working alchemy, hoping to find ways to turn baser metals into gold and elude death and aging. This novel is an entertaining book, with a lot going on.

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths is part of the Pushkin Vertigo line that provides translations into English of popular mysteries written in other countries/languages.   And, I’m a huge fan of historical mysteries, and also of mysteries set in France, so I was honored to receive an advance review copy of this title from Pushkin/NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.       

The book is set in Paris of the 1700s, and has appearances from many historical characters, including King Louis XV; the King’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour; the Venetian, Giacomo Casanova (yes, THE Casanova), the Comte de Saint Germain; and Antoine de Sartine, the head of the police in Paris.   Although the plot initially seems fairly straightforward (if quite gruesome), it quickly becomes complex and political, with the involvement of the King and some of the dark-ish activities going on in and around his court.  In addition to the rich historical background, I enjoyed the various plot threads and complexities, and liked following along with the main protagonist, Volnay, as he investigated.    I unfortunately read this book during the week, with the result that I had a couple of nights when I didn’t get quite as much sleep as I really needed, since I had trouble putting it down.  

In the end, my only minor complaint is that I had trouble believing that the wound Volnay receives near the end wouldn’t have been fatal, especially with the medical care available in the 1700s.    However, somehow it doesn’t kill him, and please note - this isn’t even really a spoiler, since there are several more titles in the series already written in the original French.  So it’s obvious, if a bit hard to credit, that he survives.   One other minor wish is that there would have been some historical notes, telling more about the background of the book, and which other characters and events, besides the really well-known ones, were also historical.   

Neither of these complaints is serious though, and I’m very hopeful that more titles will get translated into English.  I’ll definitely read them if they are!   I struggled a little bit over whether to give this book four or five stars, and if I could have given it a 4 ½, I would have.  Please note, though, that I tend to be pretty conservative in awarding stars, only giving five stars to maybe one in thirty or forty books.  So in the end, I went with four stars – but that is still a great rating from me and means I really recommend a book.    And my thanks again to Pushkin/NetGalley for the ARC!

1759. When a young female is found mutilated and carrying a letter from King Louis XV, Inspector Volnay worries that she is was one of the King's harem of young mistresses. Then there is another murder. Spies and plots abound from Madame Pompadour, various groups calling themselves The Devout, and The Brotherhood of the Serpent.
Overall an entertaining story
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths is the first of eight French mysteries featuring Volnay, a man who was made the Inspect of Strange and Unexplained Deaths after saving Louis XV from an assassin. He is called to investigate the murder of a young woman whose entire face had been removed. When his good friend and associate, the Monk, does the autopsy, he creates a death mask that Volnay uses to identify the victim as one of the King’s mistresses. 

The novel is full of plot and counter-plot with historical characters. In addition to Louis XV, there are Antoine de Sartine, Comte de Saint Germain, Madame Pompadour, and the famed Casanova. There are also three competing secret societies and all of them have nothing better to do than plot and counter-plot to hold or gain power. 



I stuck it out to the bitter end of The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths and wish I had not. As a mystery, though, it is fair. Volnay and the reader had the necessary clues. However, it is simply too convoluted with plots and counter-plots and sheer stupidity. Really, the inane actions of the characters baffled me again and again and far more thoroughly than the mystery.  

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths will be published on October 6th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths at Pushkin Press
Olivier Barde-Cabicon

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the opportunity to review this ARC. This imprint of Pushkin, Vertigo, has the unique job of publishing crime fiction from around the globe and providing translations where needed. Such was the case for The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths, originally published in the French in 2012 under the name <<Casanova et la femme sans visage>>, or “Casanova and the Woman Without a Face.” Thus, we should also thank Louise Lalaurie Rogers for the translation.

What I Enjoyed:

The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths has many flaws, but some elements did keep my attention and I think other readers will appreciate them more than I did. There is a wealth of French history and historical lore here that Barde-Cabuçon brought in expertly. King Louis XV is debauched and clearly a predator; Casanova is a society darling; the Comte de Saint Germain is as mysterious as ever; and Madame de Pompadour is more regal than the king. The Parc-aux-Cerfs, or stag park, features prominently here as the place of the king’s harem of young girls (largely disproven, but still fun historical lore), and if you know anything of French geography or 18th century French history, you will probably enjoy the scenes set in Paris and Versailles. This was clearly a well-researched book.

The intersection between science and folklore is also on full display here, as is the debates surrounding it both then and now. The Church was significantly more powerful then, so even questioning Christian values was cause for heresy claims and being burned at the stake, but many men and women sought to discover the secrets of the universe at this time. Most notably, the book shows how many people dabbled in alchemy to discover how to turn lead into gold, and the formula for Nicholas Flamel’s philosopher’s stone, thus gaining the power of immortality. Some of my favorite scenes, despite them being verbose and repetitive, are when Volnay, the monk, Compte de Saint Germain and other characters get into religious and philosophical discussions – Volnay is a man of strict scientific rules, while the monk, Compte, and Chiara the love interest all find that alchemy is true science. They are all heretics in the eyes of the law, but believe that the pursuit is worth it. I loved how well the Age of Enlightenment is displayed here.

Lastly, the mystery was fun to solve at its bones. I say this because there is so much going on that is extraneous to the actual mystery, as in solving who killed the two women with missing faces, but when the plot finally circled back to what was important (in my humble opinion), Inspector Volnay pointed to clues that the reader could follow and brought the whole story back full circle. It was cathartic at the end of this very long and mostly tedious book to see “whodunnit.”

What Killed it for Me:

As I am sure you can guess from my description above, it was the unnecessary length and wildly inconsistent pacing that ruined Inspector for me. Here is a book that exemplifies the faux pas of telling instead of showing, with every detail belabored and whole swaths of descriptions are given to the locations and the people. Personalities are only gleaned by how other characters describe them (Casanova is a shameless rake, B=Inspector Volnay is a conflicted man with unimpeachable morals, etc), and these conversations that are written to show off these characters are normally pages long and repeated multiple times.

As for pacing, it took almost fifty percent of the book before the more interesting characters are introduced, and I was genuinely concerned that I wouldn’t be able to finish it. Then all of the sudden, the book took about six different wildly and unnecessarily complex turns, brought in a whole slew of new plot points and secret organizations, and all of the sudden solved every single “strange and unexplained mystery” within the last twenty pages. It was then that I realized this book didn’t know what to be – it was not a straight murder mystery anymore, but rather a massive condemnation of 18th century French society wrapped in a Da Vinci Code-esque conspiracy theory about Church influence and cloaked in a veil of magical realism, with the secret to immortality at some characters’ fingertips.

Lastly, here is another male writer that could benefit from a female editor, because the male lens is insufferable. Chiara, the main female character, is supposed to be a smart and well off woman that is politically savvy and an experienced chemist, and yet both Casanova and Volnay cannot stop staring at her chest. Her figure is talked about ad nauseum, while the reader is told in passing about her philosophy and her chemistry lab. The rest of the women follow classic “Madonna and the Whore” complex, where prostitutes are being literally killed or judged and not a single woman is shown positively. Both of the main male characters, Casanova and Volnay, have deep seated Mommy issues – Volnay’s mother is quite literally never mentioned, and Casanova’s mother abandoned him. This was actually part of the reason I almost abandoned the book not even 20 pages in, when Volnay falls head over heels for Chiara due almost solely to her heaving bosom. Not a good opener for a guy whose character and moral fiber is supposed to be unimpeachable.

Conclusion:

While I tried to maintain a fairly balanced view and temper my opinion with the fact that this is a translation, The Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths felt more like a strange and scathing criticism of 18th century France and a massive conspiracy theory cloaked in half truths. The mystery itself was engaging but not enough to carry two dimensional characters and, simply put, bad writing.

Just too off. There's not one character we can empathise with, never mind like. Not one I could recommend.

I thought this book was a good read and one of the better murder mystery/historical fiction I have read recently. I found he best thing about it the characters and their relationships with one another. The setting up of the time period was also excellent both in setting and context. The one thing I found lacking was the setting of the location, Paris, as I found this was strong at the beginning by creating the atmosphere of the city, but found it depleted as the book went on and could have been set anywhere in Europe.
I thought the set up of the murder and the conspiracy around it was good and it really hooked me from the beginning. However, when the solution was revealed for the first murder about 3/4 of the way through it came very suddenly at the beginning of a chapter unrelated to the last, and although I enjoyed the revelation and the putting together of the clues. I felt we as readers were told the truth rather than discovered the truth alongside the Inspector. But overall I found it suspenseful and intriguing with excellent ending and characters.
I think some of the negatives may be due to the translation into english rather than the quality of the writing.
Would read another in the series and recommend to others.

This is OK, not great. I'll let the many existing reviews provide detailed opinions. This will work for many historical fiction fans, but probably not the majority.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

A Baroque mystery set among the powerful of pre-revolutionary France, this novel offers numerous famous and original characters, all of whom are unfortunately rather two-dimensional and boring. While the murder mystery at the heart of the book is is fairly well-constructed, the amount of extra baggage this novel carries weighs it down with gratuitous and over-written subplots and side plots. The Inspector himself is an incompetent and gullible figure with little internal interest--he's perhaps the most cardboard of the characters. Numerous spies twirl in the orbit of the court, making for threads begun and not really ended; women are objects, even to characters who consider themselves above such considerations; and the entire novel is slow and ornamented to the point of ridiculousness.