The Ghost Riders of Ordebec

A Commissaire Adamsberg novel

By: Fred Vargas, Siân Reynolds - translator

Narrated by: David Rintoul

‘People will die,’ says the panic-stricken woman outside police headquarters. She has been standing in blazing sunshine for more than an hour, and refuses to speak to anyone besides Commissaire Adamsberg. Her daughter has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. Since the middle ages there have been stories of murderers, rapists, those with serious crimes on their conscience, meeting a grizzly end following a visitation by the riders.

Soon after the young woman’s vision a notoriously cruel man disappears, and the local police dismiss the matter as superstition. Although the case is far outside his jurisdiction, Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds.

Critic reviews

This latest outing for the offbeat Commissaire Adamsberg is [Vargas'] best

After decades in which crime fiction in French was dominated by the Belgian author Georges Simenon, it has an indisputable new star in Fred Vargas (Joan Smith)

Vargas depicts brilliantly a rural community riven with superstition, where class distinctions have existed for centuries

Love the well-written weirdness of Vargas

If you could sum up The Ghost Riders of Ordebec in three words, what would they be?

Odd, engaging and imaginative.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Vargas always gets me in the end. Although I'm rather astute at guessing who did it, I never quite get it right with Vargas--there's always a twist that catches me unawares. I can't recommend her books highly enough.