Death of a Critic — Dean Fuller

Paris's most widely read -- and universally detested -- theatre critic falls dead just as the curtain rises on a new production. What first appears to be a heart attack is soon revealed to be something more sinister, yet there are no clues, no murder weapon ... just plenty of suspects.

Thus the stage is set for Dean Fuller's deftly crafted new mystery, Death of a Critic, starring the charismatic detective Alex Grismolet, Chef-Inspecteur of the Surete. Grismolet -- a towering, red-haired tuba player who lives on a houseboat -- and his delightfully inscrutable assistant, Inspecteur Varnas, make up one of the most eccentric teams of the detective genre. The duo sets out on an irresistible adventure, investigating everyone from members of the fascist Front Patriotique -- which claims responsibility for the murder -- to the fateful play's producer, director, cast, and crew; the stunning ballerina who was the critic's mistress; and even an apparition of the Blessed Virgin, which appears to a ten-year-old shepherdess in the mountains of the Haut Languedoc of Southern France.