title: Have Mercy on Us All: A Novel (Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries (Paperback))
author:  Fred Vargas 
description: A bestseller in France, Vargas's U.S. debut presents a riveting blend of biothriller and historical cryptology: it takes a close look at the threat of bubonic plague to modern-day Paris. Joss Le Guern is a merchant seaman who, following the wreck of his ship and the end of his career, has strung an improvised mailbox onto a tree and taken to reading aloud local news left for him there thrice daily in the streets of Paris; he sees himself as a modern town crier. When odd, apocalyptic warnings begin coming in regularly, intrigued listener Herv Decambrais does some research and finds they match medieval texts that predicted the coming of the Black Death. Meanwhile, backward 4s begin appearing on apartment doors. At first, Chief Inspector Adamsberg (a comically forgetful, yet thoughtful and decisive character) and his deputy dismiss the markings as graffiti, but when they discover that the symbol was once used in parts of Europe to protect people against the plague and correlate with Joss's reports, the detective work intensifiesthough not fast enough. This exciting and careful whodunit is well-executed, page-turning crime fictionuntil its surprise but somewhat anticlimactic ending. <i>(Nov. 3)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: Praise for Fred Vargas and the Commissaire Adamsberg Mysteries
  
  “Fred Vargas’s books are murder mysteries, yes—cunning, corkscrew murder
  mysteries—but so much else besides: delicate comedies, engrossing tours of
  French geography and history, fascinating excursions into folklore and myth.”
  
  —A. J. Finn, #1 _New York Times_ bestselling author
  
  “I so enjoyed _This Poison Will Remain_ , real vintage Vargas: playful,
  thought-provoking, a total delight. And beautifully translated. Adamsberg is
  one of my favorite detectives.”
  
  —Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland mysteries
  
  “A wildly imaginative series.”
  
  — _The New York Times_
  
  “It’s a tangled web [Vargas] weaves, and a hard one to escape.”
  
  — _The Washington Post_
  
  “Vargas’s characters are like something out of a fairy tale—eternal opposites,
  ever-renewing archetypes despite their fresh adventures each time. That’s why
  each novel’s opening feels new.”
  
  — _The Philadelphia Inquirer_
  
  “Anyone who enjoys kooky characters and intricate detail w