We all recognize the labeling Black for all kinds of novels derived from the police to plots that obscure many aspects beyond the crime or crime of the moment. Although Hammett y Chandler were the direct or indirect promoters of this literature that went from fanzines and pulp publications (perhaps because it addressed peripheral issues in times of more restrictive morality), finally the term noir was well associated with the genre thanks to French publishers that in the 40s already they created series noire.
The point is that in the case of French writer Sophie Hénaff, that of Black serves to cradle a singular black narrative that refreshes and reinvigorates that Gallic stamp of a bestselling genre today.
Because Henaff does not park its creative origins around humor and ends up combining the criminal with the humorous. An ingenious combination that points to a sweet idyll at the moment in the hands of his brilliant creation Anne Capestán.
Best novels by Sophie Hénaf
Anne Capestan's Brigade
Everything is susceptible to humor. And in literature, satire and ridicule are two resources that in the hands of pens endowed for it from their creative imprint, end up curdling in hilarious stories that reconcile us with the worst of our society (if there is possible reconciliation with the abominable ).
Anne Capestan is a heroine of the underworld, of the marginal space through which she and her team have to move between squalor while they can extract that point of caustic humor from us that satirizes and leaves traces of revision of the tragic as a naturalized element from that grotesque vision to the French.
There is not a great case to inquire about, nor serial killers, but there is a lot of continuous hook, of strange fascination for the Capestan team, with their internal relationships and their way of investigating for the resolution of their little avatars. In its changing scenarios and its juicy dialogues, a residue is extracted from the plot that would invite more pages, more subplots.
But reading enjoyment is also derived from that conciseness, from the surgical precision that dissects small captivating universes. Original narrative proposal between a policeman with an aftertaste of a hard-boiled XXI century version retouch.
Death Note
In this novel the author continues to give the story of what happens to Anne Capestan, the well-known police inspector and her disconcerting squad, vilified by the rest of her colleagues, unable to accept the successes that her bizarre methods achieve.
Splashing the plot with those delicious drops of humor, black and acid at times, the protagonist assumes the investigation into the murder of her father-in-law, Commissioner Serge Rufus.
An uncomfortable situation that will lead Anne to personal distress. However, this case will not be the one that ends up centering the frenzied activity of the brigade. Serial murders in the Provence region grab all the police attention of the moment.The deceased are previously announced publicly, with the consequent general stupor and police confusion. The development of the investigation is full of imagination and surprises, transforming the black and police theme into a successful entertaining reading with the appropriate doses of mystery and with the same enigmatic overtones to know what is happening.
In short, with Death Warning we can savor an interesting combination with all the good of two apparently polarized literary worlds: humor and thriller. And the mix ends up being magical, palatable, extremely interesting and invigorating for both genders.