Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Madonna of Notre Dame
WORK NOTES: trans by Katherine Gregor
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1973
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://newvesselpress.com/authors/alexis-de-ragougneau/ *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1973.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Scriptwriter and author.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Prior to publishing his debut book, Alexis Ragougneau mainly wrote for the stage. Prior to his script work, however, he oversaw tourism within the famous cathedral of Notre Dame. His experiences in the cathedral are what inform The Madonna of Notre Dame.
The Madonna of Notre Dame chronicles the efforts of Father Francois Kern, a priest of Notre Dame, and Claire Kaufmann, a local sheriff, to unravel the truth about a case of mysterious events that unfold within the church. Everything begins with the discovery of a dead woman. No one realizes her status until a tourist joins her in “prayer” and watches her body collapse. Other churchgoers had long thought she was immersed in worship, as her body had been carefully posed. The cathedral is rocked by this turn of events, which have unfolded right at the crux of a major event for the church, and it is closed so authorities can look into the truth. Foul play is immediately discovered upon closer investigation, but the culprit behind the crime remains a mystery. Fingers soon point to Thibault, who reportedly had a violent encounter with the woman while she was still alive. Thibault denies any guilt. Kaufmann also disagrees with the accusations, as she believes turning the blame to Thibault is simply too convenient. Kern trusts Thibault’s word and wants to absolve him of the crime, having also already seen the body personally. The accusations nevertheless push Thibault over the edge, and he ends his own life. With the primary “suspect” gone, Kern and Kaufmann must begin their search for the truth anew. However, their own personal problems may get in the way of their success. Kern struggles with a serious condition that attacks his joints and consciousness. Kaufmann also has her own demons to overcome. Several other characters become involved with the case along the way, and their own observations and insights may provide the keys to unlock this mysterious case. Indications gradually grow to suggest the actuality behind the murder is far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.
One Publishers Weekly contributor called The Madonna of Notre Dame an “arresting first novel.” A writer on the Tonstant Weader Reviews Web log expressed that Ragougneau “writes complex and intriguing characters.” The reviewer added: “He creates a strong sense of place and mood.” Monica Carter, a contributor to the Foreword Reviews Web site, expressed: “[T]he winner here is not just Ragougneau, but all readers in search of energetic, original crime novels.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, August 29, 2016, review of The Madonna of Notre Dame. p. 70.
ONLINE
Foreword Reviews, https://www.forewordreviews.com/ (November 3, 2016), Monica Carter, review of The Madonna of Notre Dame.
New Vessel Press Web site, http://newvesselpress.com/ (June 12, 2017), author profile.
Tonstant Weader Reviews, https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/ (October 1, 2016), review of The Madonna of Notre Dame.
Alexis Ragougneau is a playwright and The Madonna of Notre Dame is his first novel. He has worked in Notre Dame Cathedral helping monitor tourist crowds and knows well its infinite secrets and the forgotten souls who linger in its darkest corners.
The Madonna of Notre Dame
263.35 (Aug. 29, 2016): p70.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
The Madonna of Notre Dame
Alexis Ragougneau, trans. from the French by Katherine Gregor. New Vessel, $15.95 trade paper (180p) ISBN 978-1-939931-39-9
Near the start of playwright Ragougneau's arresting first novel, a beautiful young woman dressed in white in Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral falls to the floor from a bench where she appeared to be praying. Witnesses assume that she fainted, but in fact she's been dead for hours. The subsequent medical examination of the unidentified victim shows that she's been strangled; in addition, someone has tampered with the body in an unusual way. Thibault, an angelic-looking young man accused of the crime, admits that he hit the woman but didn't kill her. After Thibault commits suicide, deputy magistrate Claire Kauffmann, who believes Thibault was innocent, and Fr. Francois Kern set out to find the real killer. Claire must navigate the murky waters of a male-dominated field, while harboring memories of a painful past, and Father Kern suffers from a debilitating, painful illness that has stunted his growth, and his loneliness is palpable. Both desperately want to see justice done, and the devastating truth proves that the line between good and evil isn't always so clear. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Madonna of Notre Dame." Publishers Weekly, 29 Aug. 2016, p. 70. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA462236442&it=r&asid=684264a3d10cd7a5cb2634548de3d3e6. Accessed 9 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A462236442
I love reading mysteries written by authors from other countries. It’s an interesting form of armchair travel that has made me a forever-addict to the Akashic Noir series. I have an enduring love Fred Vargas whose procedural mysteries are infused with a deep compassion and humanity. Excited at the possibility of a new French mystery writer, I was eager to read The Madonna of Notre Dame by Alexis Ragougneau, which was translated into English by Katherine Gregor.
The story opens with the murder of a beautiful woman dressed all in white at the famed Cathedral of Notre Dame, a site visited by 50,000 tourists every day. But don’t think that means there are lots of witnesses. She was murdered during the night, placed so she looked like she was praying and not discovered until someone sat next to her.
Father Bern was one of the people who discovered the body and he begins to investigate because he is certain of the innocence of the obvious suspect, a mentally ill young man who had attacked the woman the day before during a procession. He investigates, as does a police detective who is also troubled by the easy, and obvious solution that makes everyone else happy.
2paws
I was disappointed in this novel, though if Regougneau writes a second, I will give it a chance and read it because I think he has the makings of a good mystery novelist. I do not read French, so I cannot know for certain if the tone that put me off comes from the translator or the author. There was a prurience that made me uncomfortable. I know that when women are murdered, there are often details of the murder that implicate sexual fetishes and psychoses, but when they are lingered over with too much loving detail, I am turned off. There is a scene in the apartment of the obvious suspect that I thought was gross and unnecessary in its details and narrative excess. It turned me off so much I considered not finishing the book, but I was interested in the humane Father Bern and wanted to see where the author took him.
I also did not like the mysterious disease that afflicts Father Bern. Give him rheumatoid arthritis or chronic fatigue or anything but some mysterious recurring and debilitating disease that makes no sense, that seems more like an affliction induced psychosomatically or by a punishing god. I want it to go away forever. There is a hallucinatory scene with the priest that again makes little sense and makes this humane, kindly and intelligent priest seem too naive and unaware to ever be the same person who earlier in that same day made the logical leap that brought him to that neighborhood at that time.
The biggest flaw, though, is that this is not truly a fair mystery. Readers are provided the clues that make the detective and the priest doubt the official police narrative, but the evidence that narrows the field from a set of suspects toward a narrower group is absent. Well, it’s there, the priest sees it plain as day in a video and the detective is told exactly who the murderer is by a witness, but that is “off-screen” so to speak. It would be too revealing to give the specifics, but there should be some other clues that narrow the field somehow.
We are also give the “mind of the murder” narrative, my personal pet peeve, a flashback to the past when the fatal flaw was introduced into the killer’s psyche. It was unnecessary and psychologically unpersuasive.
But, despite all those flaws, I do look forward to reading another by Ragougneau for the following reasons. He writes complex and intriguing characters. He creates a strong sense of place and mood. While I thought that hallucinatory scene with the priest was unlikely, it was truly hallucinatory. As a reader, the whole spinning, out-of-control, why-am-I-here, how-can-this-be unreality of it was magnificent. Ragougneau can write! I just want a stronger plot.
The Madonna of Notre Dame is only available in electronic format at the moment and will be released in paper on October 11th.
The Madonna of Notre Dame
Reviewed by Monica Carter
November 3, 2016
An egregious murder in a beloved church initiates a compelling whodunit in this energetic and original crime novel.
How do you catch a killer in one of the world’s most celebrated churches, particularly during the Feast of the Assumption? In playwright Alex Ragougneau’s The Madonna of Notre Dame, an egregious murder leads to a compelling whodunit.
The morning after the Feast of the Assumption mass, an American tourist discovers that the beautiful woman kneeling beside her is not praying; in fact, she is dead. The deceased is a mixture of beauty and chastity, a provocative Mary-esque package. The church is shut down and the police are called.
Ragougneau has a keen sense for character and wastes no time introducing the locals—an eccentric older woman who comes daily to the cathedral, a wizened police detective, a damaged workaholic, and a sickly priest all figure in. Over the course of seven days, austere prose is used to delve deeper and deeper into the mystery, as well as the troubles of the characters involved.
Katherine Gregor’s translation makes for a smooth read. The novel begins at a slower pace, examining each detail and possible motive. The first half of the novel is spent on a tortured young man, the first suspect; once he is disposed of, the second half moves fast to reach its verdict. The abrupt change of pace sacrifices explorations of characters’ motivations, though, and results in plot conveniences. Still, Ragougneau’s use of atmospheric detail and facts about Christianity, along with a healthy infusion of Parisian grit, make this believable work.
The exploitation of men’s fascination with virgins and prostitutes, particularly in the Notre Dame Cathedral, is a brilliant move within the murder mystery. Yet the winner here is not just Ragougneau, but all readers in search of energetic, original crime novels. The Madonna of Notre Dame maintains the notion that good still conquers evil.