The Detective Stories of Patrick Bent

If you have a love of Brittany,  then the novels of Patrick Bent will prove enjoyable.  Patrick has set his novels  in various seaside locations around the Brittany coast.  The novels - which are in French - centre around the investigations of Marie-Jo Beaussange (a female Jim Bergerac) who is a Commissaire. 

I met Patrick Bent when he was undertaking a book signing at the Cora supermarket in Saint Jouan de Guerrets.  Whilst  carrying out the ritual supermarket trip with visiting family members intent on stocking up with French delicacies to take back to Jersey, I noticed Patrick, who  kindly signed the book I had purchased which I then carefully placed in our trolley.  The trolley and its goods then disappeared!  Family and I went in different directions on a trolley search but it had totally vanished so someone, somewhere has a book with a dedication to me!  However an amused Patrick soon put this right and signed another book for me called " Hécatombe à Saint Malo".

    About Patrick Bent    

Patrick was born in 1947 in  Ile de France to a Breton mother  - hence his links with Brittany.  His childhood was spent between Marseille and Saint Cast where family holidays were regularly taken.   Since then the coast and the sea have captured his imagination.  For the last twenty years  Erquy in Brittany has been his summer home.   

Following Lycée  and university studies at Orsay where he gained a Doctorat de Physique, two years were spent in Sénégal which allowed him to savour the tropics and this experience also gave him a decided taste for travel. Today Patrick Bent is the associate director of a PME (company) specialising in lasers and optics.  He has written numerous scientific and technical articles prior to publishing his first novel.  Patrick is one of a team of writers of books set in or about Britanny, who publish through Alain Bargain in Quimper.

Patrick's works include:

Erquy profite le crime (Editions Alain Bargain , 2003)
Le macchabée du Val André (Editions Alain Bargain, 2004
Saint Cast priez pour eux ! (Editions Alain Bargain, 2005)
Hécatombe à Saint Malo (Editions Alain Bargain, 2007).

  A Review of Patrick's latest book  

Hécatombe à St Malo (Le crépuscule des vieux) - This means The Massacre of St. Malo (The Twilight of the Old)

The body of a man is found in Montparnasse.  Commissaire Carella’s investigations lead him nowhere so he appeals to  a colleague Marie-Jo Beaussange for assistance.  The two knew each other long ago when they were both inspectors and worked in the same office.

Marie-Jo now works in St. Malo.  In order to assist her friend she jumps on the first TGV going to the capital where she stays a short while before returning to the Pays de Rance. Suddenly here too,  in the Malouine region, the bodies start to mount up  and it seems that no one is to be spared. From St Malo to St Suliac, people tremble in their quaint cottages at the name of "Apollon" that crops up as  associated with these killings.

The Police machine quickly gets underway. Politically the situation cannot be tolerated or left with so many citizens decimated.  Results are necessary and quickly. But who can uncover the mystery of  Apollon?  Is this the name of a terrorist group?  A sect based on Greek mythology or an unbalanced individual ?

Commissaire Marie-Jo Beaussange – secondary school teacher prior to becoming a « cop » - takes the reins of this difficult investigation.  In addition to her tough adversaries “la Miss” has to deal with  a group of seventy year old pensioners, libertine actors and the start of the tourist season for the Corsaire city.

This web of deceit develops into a whirlwind of hypocrisy and  false witnesses. How can the truth be elicited?  Are the Commissaire’s brilliant intuition, her fashion model looks and her energy enough to unmask the assassins hiding behind the divine signature?

Editions Alain Bargain, Mars 2007 Prix TTC : 8 Euros - Roman policier - 272 pages
ISBN(10) 2-914532-92-X
ISBN(13) 978-2-914532-92-1
ISSN 1281-7813