Home of burgundy … and murder: R.M. Cartmel’s L’AFFAIRE RICHEBOURG

Zoë Sharp

As I write this I am sitting in a little hotel in Beaune, Bourgogne, in the heart of the burgundy-producing area of France. I have to admit that I am not a wine buff. Until a couple of years ago, I couldn’t touch alcohol. Now I have the occasional sip of wine, and the even more occasional ‘flooded’ gin – which means a very small amount of gin accompanied by a very large amount of tonic.

So, you might wonder, why go to such a place of vinicultural worship?

It started at CrimeFest in May, with an invite from Sarah Williams of Crime Scene Books and The Book Consultancy. I’d seen Sarah at numerous events, but not had any great chance to talk with her until Bouchercon in North Carolina last year when, together with one of her authors, R.M. ‘Dick’ Cartmel, we were almost ‘last men standing’ in the bar on Sunday evening.

R.M. 'Dick' Cartmel, hard at work, chiselling fresh words from the word face

But out of the blue at Bristol, Sarah asked me if I’d like to join her, production manager Kelly Mundt, and Dick himself for a trip to burgundy the following month to help celebrate the launch of Dick’s first novel in translation, L’AFFAIRE RICHEBOURG, translated into French by Françoise Renevret.

How could I resist the lure of a part of France unknown to me, as well as a chance to compare the French high-speed TGV to the Shinkansen I’d ridden in Japan?

The TGV, displaying a magnificent insect collection

Coupled to that, I am currently reading the English version of Dick’s book – THE RICHEBOURG AFFAIR – and thoroughly enjoying the diffident character of Commander Charlemagne Truchaud, and a storyline that is interwoven with the business of winemaking. I hope the French take it to their hearts. The book – and the series – deserves all success.

The countryside of the burgundy region, as seen from the TGV

Dick Cartmel has a long association with this area of France, visiting as a child, and returning as a medical student in Dijon, probably more years ago than he cares to recall. He has a close relationship with friend Alain Ampaud, whom he refers to as his “French brother”. Indeed, it is Alain’s mother-in-law who did the translation for RICHEBOURG, and the book is dedicated to Alain’s grandmother.

During his student years, Dick wrote an alternative-history novella, but it wasn’t until he retired from his Peterborough General Practice in June 2012 that he returned to his passion for the written word. “I set off for Nuits-Saint-Georges the following day.” He had already spent holidays for the previous five years sitting in cafés in the town with Truchaud whispering in his ear.

He conceived the stories as a trilogy from the outset, with THE RICHEBOURG AFFAIR (2014) beginning in the spring with the pruning and the first shoots of the vines, moving through the summer flowering with THE CHARLEMAGNE CONNECTION (2015) and finally on to the last installment, which will be called THE ROMANÉE VINTAGE, set in September and due for publication early next year.

Truchaud, so Dick claims, arrived almost fully formed, with his name and signature trenchcoat intact. “That was probably something to do with Columbo,” he admits. “I’ve done all sorts of unspeakable things to that trench coat.”

Truchaud himself is rather shy, and uncomfortable with women – especially those with whom he has some kind of romantic attachment. Dick has spent some time with the local gendarmerie, asking questions, but the books have allowed him to indulge in his other passion, which is wine in general and the wines of the burgundy region in particular.

As well as help on the forensics side from pathologist Nick Marquez-Grant, Dick also has a “vinicultural editor, David Clark,” who advises on any technical matters beyond Dick’s range of knowledge.

However, Dick likes to be hands-on in his research, spending most of September 2014 picking and sorting grapes alongside experts with years of experience. A crop of bonnes mares and musigny grapes were saved almost by instinct before a violent storm would have ruined that year’s crop. “The musigny grapes are used to make a wine that is described as slipping down your throat like little Jesus in velvet trousers.”

One of the premier vineyards of the area. Each vine is possibly a hundred years old and worth a lot of money.

Beaune and Nuits-Saint-Georges are certainly beautiful French towns, the soft sandstone buildings contrasting with the sharp rooflines, and the serried rows of vines standing squat and orderly in the vast roadside vineyards. I can understand the quiet fascination it holds for Dick, even without quite his level of practiced appreciation of the wine itself. Indeed, if the much-vaunted ‘Brexit’ is voted for next week, he may well be moving out here more permanently.

Second in the trilogy

This week’s Word of the Week is viniculture, meaning the science, study and cultivation of grapes specifically for making wine, as opposed to viticulture which simply means the science, study and cultivation of grapes in general.

Quais du Polar

About six weeks ago, Michael Stanley received an invitation to some event or other in France called Quais du Polar. 

Not likely, we said.  The most recent of our French translations came out four years ago and would likely be unavailable anyway.  And flying to and from France would be very expensive.

Then we took a closer look.  It turned out that the invitation came with airfares and all expenses for four nights in Lyon.

I emailed Cara, saying we had been invited to Quais du Polar.  Her response was “Wow!”

So I accepted the invitation.  Michael decided to honour a commitment he’d made to go bird watching in KwaZulu-Natal.

So, let me tell you a little about this festival I’d never heard about.  Did I say ‘little’?  This year the attendance was expected to be about 65,000.  And we think Bouchercon with its 2,500 to 3,000 attendees is big.

First, ‘polar’ means thriller in French.  So this is a festival devoted to mysteries and thrillers.  It is now eleven years old and comprises a variety of events. 

As with most such festivals, there are author panels with simultaneous translations into French and English.  Most of these were held in the gorgeous Palais du Commerce.

Ceiling of the main hall at the Palais du Commerce

Palais du Commerce

Palais du Commerce at night

The main hall with book sellers setting up

Palais du Commerce again

I was on a panel entitled Enfer et damnation or Hell and Damnation – how one writes about countries that have endured substantial trauma.  There are also individual interviews with famous authors – Michael Connelly, Elizabeth George, John Grisham, Val McDermid, and Ian Ranking were some of the English-writing authors you will have heard of.  Of course, there were huge names from France and other countries too.

The Salle Tony Garnier where my panel took place

There is also a film festival, mainly of films based mysteries and thrillers.  These are often introduced by the author of the original book.  So Michael Connelly, for example, introduced The Lincoln Lawyer.

There are visits to related places in Lyon, such as police headquarters and the forensics lab.  There are plays, lectures, master classes, and a city-wide murder mystery to be solved which, I was told, attracted 10,000 participants.  There is also a whole series of events just for children.

I was blown away!

From an author’s perspective, it is an opportunity to get in front of a huge reading public.  Only about 80 authors are invited from around the world and, in addition to any panels, each author gets about 8 – 10 hours of time to sign books or chat to interested readers. 

For readers, it is an opportunity to browse hundreds of titles, and meet and talk to authors.  And buy books – tens of thousands of books.  I must have signed 150 of them, and the English language editions, of which there were only a few, sold out quickly.

These piles were constantly replenished.

The lines of readers waiting to get in stretched a long way.

More waiting

The grand hall bustling with readers

French readers, it seems, take their time before deciding to buy a book.  They read the whole back cover to find out about the story and the authors, and they often browse inside as well.  Some also asked questions.  It was fun, and sometimes embarrassing, to try to answer in French.  But then, most people who asked questions could also speak English.

There were a few other benefits to accepting the invitation:  Lyon is a gorgeous city, founded by the Romans, situated at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers.  It is known as the gastronomic capital of France – how bad can that be? – and I got to ride the TGV trains at 200 miles an hour, quiet and smooth.  How I love trains!

Lyon from The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Lyon

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

The huge wheels for the funucular that takes one to Fourvière

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière from the town

There are several carousels in Lyon - all working

Probably one of the most famous statues in the whole of France is situated in a fountain in front of Lyon's City Hall.  This massive bronze structure is the work of Frédéric Bartholdi, whose name you probably know!  He began work on the statue after finishing New York’s Statue of Liberty. 

Of course, the best part of such events is the people.  I met a variety of authors from different parts of the world including Gunnar Staaleson from Norway, Paulo Lins from Brazil, who wrote City of God, and Claude Mesplède of France, known as le pape du polar (the Pope of thrillers).  I happened to enjoy three meals at his table and was amazed that almost everyone who walked past came and paid respects to him.  He is a literary icon in France. 

With Claude Mesplède - lepape du polar

There were also agents and journalist to schmooz with.  As well as publishers.

Jennifer Platt from the South African Sunday Times

So, if you happen to be in France when Quais du Polar is taking place, take the TGV and enjoy a lovely city, great food, and a world of mystery and thriller authors.

Stan - Thursday