Book Addicts Anonymous

II found an excerpt of this novel a website. I enjoyed what I read, so decided to buy the novel. I had to order it, as it wasn't in stock.
I'm going to say before I go any further that this novel has been translated from French, but I didn't realise this until I was over a 100 pages into it. (I find some translated novels difficult to read, but not this one.)
It's classed as a thriller, and has short chapters, each letting the reader learn an important piece of information. I think if I re-read the novel I might pick up on the clues I am sure are there.
But they are well hidden in this book, and when the murderer was eventually caught I was more than a little surprised.
Commisairre Adamsberg appears to be haphazard in his detecting methods, and it is more than halfway through the book before he takes the case on. However, he has been following it with interest from the start of the novel, and avoiding getting himself shot by another criminal.
I found the novel very addictive, and again, it was another novel I couldn't put down, which is a tribute to both Fred Vargas' writing and the translation by David Bellos.
Vargas' characters are quirky, and endearing, one of the gendarmes has a very strange way of talking, adding "how should I say" to the end of each statement he makes.

Blurb time!