The Chalk Circle Man

　　巴黎在四個多月來，某個人，我們相信是名男人，專挑在夜裡，用藍色粉筆畫出直徑約兩公尺的大圓圈，圈住散落人行道上的垃圾。亞當斯柏格知道，這個瘋狂的行徑被某種殘酷的靈感煽動著，他知道這一連串的物體秀只有一個出口──一個光輝的成就：一個人的死亡。七天後，藍色圓圈內果然出現一具喉嚨被割破的女屍，那女人雙目瞪著天空，神色驚恐，嘴巴張大，我們甚至聽到她大聲叫嚷著寫在她旁邊的句子：「維克多，倒楣鬼，你在外面做什麼？」

　　「維克多，倒楣鬼，你在外面做什麼？」

　　一個伴隨漂亮斜體字出現的藍色圓圈，引發一場錯綜複雜的連續殺人事件，所有的死者都被諾大的藍色圓圈圍住，唯一的線索是藍圈人身上的腐敗味，海洋學家瑪蒂是唯一曾多次成功跟蹤藍圈人的目擊者，只是兇手真的是藍圈人？或藍圈人只是無辜的代罪羔羊？探長尚─巴堤斯特．亞當斯柏格只能憑這些有限的線索，找出讓巴黎夜夜不得平靜的真正兇手。

　　The debut mystery in the internationally bestselling Commissaire Adamsberg series-now available for the first time in the United States

　　Fred Vargas's Commissaire Adamsberg mysteries are a sensation in France, consistently praised for their intelligence, wit, and macabre imagination. This first novel in the series introduces the unorthodox detective Commissaire Adamsberg-one of the most engaging characters in contemporary crime fiction.

　　When blue chalk circles begin to appear on the pavement in neighborhoods around Paris, Adamsberg is alone in thinking that they are far from amusing. As he studies each new circle and the increasingly bizarre objects they contain-empty beer cans, four trombones, a pigeon's foot, a doll's head-he senses the cruelty that lies within whoever is responsible. And when a circle is discovered with decidedly less banal contents-a woman with her throat slashed-Adamsberg knows that this is just the beginning.

　　★本書中譯版《藍色圓圈之謎》由台灣商務出版。

作者簡介

弗雷德．瓦格斯 Fred Vargas

　　本名Frederique Audoin-Rouzeau，1957年生於法國巴黎，專長為研究中古世紀歷史與考古。著作屢屢獲獎，連續多年蟬聯法國十大暢銷小說作家，光是「亞當斯柏格探長系列」作品在法國就累積超過數百萬冊銷量，並已譯成數十種語言在全球出版發行。其筆下的偵探小說世界，最著重的就是：「分析線索與發掘真相。」這正與她在行的考古挖掘工作雷同──在表象之下，探索各個人物內心深處以及挖掘隱藏在各個事件背後的祕密。

　　Fred Vargas is a French medieval historian and archaeologist who has a parallel career as a bestselling crime novelist. She adopted the pseudonym from her twin sister, an artist who works as Jo Vargas — after Ava Gardner’s character in The Barefoot Contessa. She has published ten mysteries, five of which feature Commissaire Adamsberg. Her detective fiction is published in 32 languages.