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In upper Provence in the small village of Banon, truffles are unearthed by a handful of a dying breed of farmers. One of them is Alyre Morelon, who with his huge, talented, sensitive, truffle-sniffing pig Roseline, digs at the earth to make a living. Alyre is a practical man who works hard, always has, and cares for his wife, even though she has been known have a fling or two. But in one section of his woods he has been getting a sick feeling of late, as if something strange is going on that he cannot see. Even Roseline has been acting strangely when they walk near that section of the land near the gate to the Protestants' tombs by the graveyard. At the same time a Commissaire Laviolette is sent by the police powers-that-be to investigate an unusual phenomenon. Hippies have been reported as getting to Banon on their wanderings, but there are reports that they are never seen again. Most of these missing hippies are young and children of wealthy parents. There have even been times when bank checks that some hippies have requested from their rich parents were never picked up after they got to Banon. Laviolette investigates mainly by inserting himself in the Provencal peasants' popular boarding house where the men who dig up truffles, drink and play cards together. To Laviolette's pride, or embarrassment, he has been told that he is so forgettable that he can fit in with anyone anywhere, so he blends in to get to hear all the rumors that might be floating around Banon. He also gets to meet the owner of the bed and breakfast, the fabulous Rosemonde who can fill him in on any of the rumors of Banon that he needs to know. She tells him of the romances of Madame Morelon, the fights and wars between the truffle finders and the list of lovers of any number of people in the village. This goes on for quite a while until amongst the frozen desserts in the restaurant's large freezer is found a recently cut and bled frozen hippie. That begins the start of Laviolette's real work on the case. DEATH IN THE TRUFFLE WOODS was first published in 1978. The writer, Pierre Magnan, is well known in France and this is the first of his books to be translated in the US. The mystery section of the book is not at all as important as the rich characterizations of the people of the town. Overall there is a positive tone to the book with an emphasis on humor rather than on violence. Many of the pages contain footnotes to let the reader in on any tidbit of information the narrator might think the reader might need. Because of this I found it difficult to get into the book and enjoy it. Too many times the reading made me feel as if I was too separate from the action to feel any tension. Even in the scenes of death and violence dripping with blood and gore I felt no emotion at all. To me the story was not much more than a light look at unusual people in a small French town whose lives are always scented with truffles. Maybe DEATH IN THE TRUFFLE WOODS lost a lot in the translation, or I need to read it in French. Or maybe I need to actually taste a truffle to enjoy the story. I'm not sure. But I doubt that I'll be on the lookout for any more translated Pierre Magnan books.
Reviewed by A. L. Katz, September 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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