To be released as part of the France bookbox.

Chourmo by Jean-Claude Izzo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Initially 4 stars, but then it started to get real clever so I assigned it the max of 5 stars.

A teenage Marseilles boy of Italian heritage is arranging a rendezvous with a Muslim girl (Naïma). Then next thing we know, they hear a loud thud, the boy peeks out, and he is killed as well.

Thus initiates a story, told through the eyes of retired police officer Fabio Montale, in which he tries to solve the mystery. We get to see various circles at play, including corrupt police heads, Italian mafia, radical Islamist insurgencies, racist nativism, and a significant amount of infidelity amongst the cast of characters. It's clever how author Jean-Claude Izzo ties all the stories together. At times readers are treated to some heartrending happenings, all within the backdrop of the city of Marseilles, the city on the Mediterranean.

Beware: there are a whole bunch of characters that appear at a moment's notice.



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Released to local BCer. Enjoy!

Thank you, haahaahaa98! I've heard about this trilogy but had never come across any of the books. Thank you for the opportunity to read it!