Arenas blancas y aguas turquesa cristalinas: el archipiélago de las Glénan, enfrente de la costa bretona, es lo más parecido a un paraíso tropical... hasta que el mar deposita en una de sus playas tres cadáveres. Es lo último que le apetece a Georges Dupin esa mañana: tener que salir corriendo sin haber podido tomar su segundo café y meterse en una bamboleante patrullera de la policía, atender al prefecto que le atosiga a llamadas porque un amigo suyo ha desaparecido y no disponer de la menor pista sobre la identidad de los tres cadáveres que han aparecido en una playa de las paradisíacas islas de Glénan. ¿Quiénes eran esos tres hombres? ¿Tal vez víctimas del violento temporal que azotó el archipiélago la noche anterior? Todo apunta a que murieron ahogados, hasta que algo despierta las dudas del comisario. Mientras Dupin, en su cuartel general del bar-restaurante de la isla de Saint-Nicolas, interroga a los sospechosos, vuelve locos a sus colaboradores y se sumerge en las oscuras historias de los isleños, una nueva tempestad empieza a gestarse.

Another solidly told story and an excellently plotted mystery. I’m especially loving the plots, and where the first book’s mystery shined in clever suspense, this one shines in sheer complexity and tragedy.

Murder on Brittany Shores takes place on an archipelago off the coast, on the Glénan Islands. Very remote, and at one point, very And Then There Were None vibes. Bannalec either has his tongue firmly in cheek, or he is a born-again convert to all things Breton, as he uses every opportunity to gush about the superiority of all things Breton, repeatedly using phrases like the best in the world, and comparing the Glénan Islands to the Caribbean, having them come out at least as equals in some respects and, of course, Glénan superior in the most important bits. This is sometimes too obvious and over-bearing, but it’s probably only wasting about 5% of the story overall, so can be forgiven, mostly. There was one spot I rolled my eyes and skimmed.

I like Dupin – he’s the opposite of his namesake; abrupt, concise and not prone to long speeches, or even medium sized sentences. Terse. Sometimes crabby, and I particularly enjoy the way he’s constantly avoiding phone calls with his superiors, like a sneaky kid trying to avoid hearing the call to come inside and bathe.

I thoroughly enjoyed both the books I’ve read so far, but I don’t feel like I need to rush out to read the next one – it will likely be on the a future library list sooner rather than later, when I feel the need to be reminded about how great Brittany is. ( )

I love Brittany and loved the descriptions of the islands, the sea, the sky and the life there. Mystery was ok, but they kept throwing new characters/suspects/victims in the last few chapters and I found that disconcerting. I do like the grumpy Dupin with his addiction to caffeine, however. Also, the print setting is the book edition I had was annoyingly incompetent, with lots of run together words and practically no chapter breaks. Grrrr. ( )

The descriptions of the Glenan, the physical environment, are wonderful. The cast of characters is also interesting. I can believe these are the kind of people who live on these unusual islands. But the pace was very slow. Nearly every action, every thought that Dupin had or could conceivably had was recorded here. Some of Dupin's observations and reactions to people got a bit tedious. ( )

Romanzo ambientato in una terra stupenda, dalla trama avvincente. Un'indagine condotta dal commissario Dupin tra Concarneau e le isole Glenan sulla morte di tre uomini, una fine che non può essere accidentale. Scenari descritti magnificamente, tra le imbarcazioni che dondolano al porto, boe e fari con piacevoli digressioni sulle tradizioni bretoni. In diversi momenti la narrazione si fa purtroppo lenta, sciupando il ritmo incalzante che un buon libro giallo dovrebbe vantare. ( )