The Awkward Squad: Sophie Hénaff

A police detective, Anne Capestan, has been suspended for six months and expects her superior, Buron, to end her employment. Instead he gives her a new department made up of misfits and rejects from other areas, and provides little in the way of supplies. They don't even have a siren for the car allotted to them. The event that caused Capestan's suspension was related to excessive force on the job, leading to a death; thus she cannot carry a firearm.

This is Sophie Hénaff's first crime fiction novel. Originally published in France in 2015, it was translated to English in 2017. The premise is similar to The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (set in Denmark), with a much larger cast. This novel is set in France, and it is more humorous in tone.

Capestan's group is given all the cold cases for the region, and her superiors don't expect them to be solved. Some examples of her new squad are: Lieutenant José Torrez, known as Malchance, whose last few partners have all been injured or died while working with him; Commandant Louis-Baptiste Lebreton, formerly of internal affairs; Capitaine Eva Rosière, author of detective novels which have been developed into a TV show; Capitaine Merlot, an alcoholic; and Lieutenant Évrard, a compulsive gambler. In the boxes of case files that they are allowed to work on they find two unsolved murders.

There are amusing scenes, as the members of the new group learn to work with each other and they set up their new location. The group has not been given real offices, but a spacious apartment in a building where no one will see them. Setting up the apartment, complete with wallpaper and comfortable sofas, is handled with humor. Each person in the group brings unique characteristics even though they have not worked out well in other departments. Sometimes these are comical or disagreeable characteristics but somehow they pull together and use their skills to support the cases they work on.

However, with all the humor, the cases are taken seriously, and most of the detectives assigned to the squad are eager to do well in this job in hopes of getting back to their old jobs. The story is paced well, and there are twists and turns along the way. My husband bought this book and loaned it to me after he read it; we both enjoyed it and plan on reading the second book in the series, Stick Together.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   MacLehose Press, 2018 (orig. pub. 2015)

Translated from the French by Sam Gordon

Length:      260 pages

Format:      Hardcover

Series:       Awkward Squad #1

Setting:     France

Genre:       Police procedural

Source:     Borrowed from my husband.

Monthly Summary, May 2020

I read eight books this month and I reviewed five of them before putting up my monthly summary. That is an achievement for me. Probably not one I will continue with, because I have so many reviews from earlier in the year that I haven't done for challenges. Oh well.

I read two books from my Classics Club list, The Master and Margarita and And Then There Were None. Five books were from my TBR pile, two were borrowed from my husband, and one book I bought in March of this year.

And here is my list of books...

General Fiction

The Provincial Lady in America (1934)
by E.M. Delafield

I wrote a post on the first three Provincial Lady books, including this one, here. They are all written in diary form and are a lot of fun to read.

The Master and Margarita (1966)
by Mikhael Bulgakov
Translated from the Russian by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

This is a Russian classic novel written in the 1930's and finished shortly before the author died in 1940, at the age of 49. The novel was finally published in Russia in 1966. It combines humor with magical realism and was a difficult read for me. My review here.

Science Fiction

The Collapsing Empire (2017) by John Scalzi

This is the first book in a science fiction trilogy about an empire of worlds connected by travel via The Flow. See my review here.

Crime Fiction

The Awkward Squad (2015) by Sophie Hénaff
Translated from the French by Sam Gordon

A police detective, Anne Capestan, has been suspended for six months and expects her superior, Buron, to end her employment. Instead he gives her a new department made up of misfits and rejects from other areas; the mission is to follow up on unsolved cases. This premise sounds similar to that of The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (set in Denmark). This one is set in France, and it is more humorous in tone. 

And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie

Ten strangers are invited to an isolated island mansion by a mysterious unknown person who identifies himself as "U.N. Owen." See my review. When I posted my review I had completely forgotten that I purchased a copy of the facsimile first edition, so I am sharing that image here. 

Fearless Jones (2001) by Walter Mosley

First book in the Fearless Jones series. My review here.

The Accident (2014) by Chris Pavone

In March of this year, I read The Expats by Chris Pavone. I loved that book, and looked for Pavone's second book immediately. I had the same reaction to this book. I liked this book for its insights into the publishing industry. A group of people is  trying to suppress the publication of a manuscript. This isn't specifically spy fiction but it certainly reads like it, and the hunt to track down the manuscript is headed by a CIA operative.

At Risk (2004) by Stella Rimington

Liz Carlyle is an MI5 officer working in counterintelligence. In this first book in the series, she is provided information on possible terrorist activity in her area. The author was director general of MI5, so one assumes that she knows the subject. I liked it and will continue the series.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times: from my husband's shelves

Judith at Reader in the Wilderness hosts this meme: Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times. The idea is to look through a bookshelf or a bookcase or stacks of books and share some thoughts on the books. And of course you can be inventive and talk about books in any context.

Two weeks ago I featured books from my son's shelves, this week it is my husband's turn. My husband reads a mix of nonfiction and fiction books. He has many books I want to read but haven't gotten to yet.

The first two books are fairly recent purchases. The other two have been on his shelves for a while.

The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood by Sam Wasson

Chinatown is one of my husband's favorite movies. Thus he was interested in this book about the making of the movie Chinatown. It focuses on the four men primarily involved: Robert Towne, Robert Evans, Jack Nicholson, and Roman Polanski. From what I understand, the story is much more than a blow by blow look at the making of the movie, but delves deep into these men's lives. It also depicts Hollywood filmmaking at a time when many changes were coming to the production of movies.

And it has a great cover.

The Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff
Translated from the French by Sam Gordon

A police detective, Anne Capestan, has been suspended for six months and expects her superior, Buron, to end her employment. Instead he gives her a new department and the mission is to follow up on unsolved cases. She is given a crew of misfits to work with. This premise sounds similar to that of The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (set in Denmark). This one is set in France, and from what I understand it is more humorous in tone. 

My husband must have liked this first book in the series because he just purchased the next book in our second curbside pickup order from our local independent bookseller, Chaucer's Books. I plan to read this one soon.

The Black Camel by Earl Derr Biggers

This is the fourth of six books by Biggers that featured Charlie Chan. I am sure that I will like this book, because I have read four others in the series and enjoyed all of them. Charlie Chan is an awesome character. He always entertains.

Although we are also fans of the Charlie Chan movies and have watched most of them, Charlie Chan in the books is different from the movie character. 

The Charlie Chan novels were published between 1925 and 1932. The only disappointment I have had with them is that they are not always set in Hawaii. This one takes place in Honolulu of the 1920s and I am looking forward to that.

Another great cover. Actually all of these books have nice covers.

And this is one of my husband's books that I just finished reading...

The Provincial Lady Goes to London by E.M. Delafield

Diary of a Provincial Lady is a fictional account of a middle-class wife and mother, living in an English village, and dealing with money problems, servant problems, etc. This book, published in 1931, follows up with her life after her book has been published to much success. She takes a flat in London to have time and quiet to work on the next book she is writing. Both books were a lot of fun to read, but I enjoyed this one more because I had adjusted to the style and tone of the first one.

 This book ends with the provincial lady planning a trip to America and I will be reading The Provincial Lady in America soon.