The A26: Shocking, hilarious and poignant noir - Softcover

Pascal Garnier, who died in March 2010, was a talented novelist, short story writer, children’s author and painter. From his home in the mountains of the Ardèche, he wrote fiction in a noir palette with a cast of characters drawn from ordinary provincial life. Though his writing is often very dark in tone, it sparkles with quirkily beautiful imagery and dry wit. Garnier’s work has been likened to the great thriller writer, Georges Simenon.

Melanie Florence is a freelance translator.

‘A most wonderfully wry noir murder mystery you'll not soon forgot. It's the sleeper of the year.’ Durango Herald

‘Garnier’s sly, cynical take on life after retirement will strike a chord with readers of every age.’ - Publishers Weekly

‘Ultimately a very dark novel, but a very impressive one...' - The Complete Review

‘ ... dark enough to sink the hook deep into fans of noir.’ - Publishers Weekly

‘Pascal Garnier produces a story of infinite grace -- a compact piece filled with quirky imagery, plot and characters.’ - Iloveamysterynewsletter.com

‘Garnier’s take on the frailty of life has a bracing originality.’ – Sunday Times

‘Bleak, often funny, and never predictable’ – Guardian

'A brilliant exercise in grim and gripping irony, it makes you grin as well as wince.' The Sunday Telegraph

'For those with a taste for Georges Simenon or Patricia Highsmith, Garnier's recently translated oeuvre will strike a chord ... While this is an undeniably steely work, his translator Melanie Florence does justice to the author's occasional outbreaks of dark humour that suddenly pierce through the clouds of encroaching existential gloom.' The Independent

'This is tough, bloody stuff, but put together with a cunning intelligence.' The Sunday Times