Pascal Garnier

En una habitación de hotel de una ciudad balneario del sur de Francia, un hombre enfermo y cansado se ahorca ayudado por un joven. Seis días antes, Simon Marechall conoce en un parque a Bernard, que aun no tiene veintidos años y esta convaleciente de un accidente laboral. Le ofrece trabajo como chofer e inician juntos un viaje repleto de incidencias extrañas, pasajeros accidentales y destinos peligrosos. La verdadera profesion de Simon asesino a sueldo y el autentico motivo del viaje sobrecogen al joven Bernard, pero este parece tener una singular facultad para adaptarse a las situaciones mas absurdas, un don innato para encajar los golpes. Quiza el contacto con el crimen y el asesinato no le hagan perder la inocencia.

Cuando un viejo gruñon, llamado Duflo, se come un trozo de tarta azul que el pequeño Benguigui le regala, nadie lo reconoce: ni su vecina, ni el vigilante del parque, ni la tendera. Ni siquiera él mi

Aquesta novel·la curta narra les aventures divertides i fascinants de Lolette, una nena amb poders màgics i Fèlix, un xiquet de color més alt que un pi.

Gabriel is a stranger in a small Breton town. Nobody knows where he came from or why hes here. Yet his small acts of kindness, and exceptional cooking, quickly earn him acceptance from the locals.His new friends grow fond of Gabriel, who seems as reserved and benign as the toy panda he wins at the funfair.But unlike Gabriel, the fluffy toy is not haunted by his past....

Recently widowed grandmother Éliette is returning to her home in the mountains when her micro-car breaks down. A stranger comes to her aid on foot. Éliette offers him a lift, glad of the interruption to her humdrum routine.That night, her neighbours son is killed in a road accident. Could the tragedy be linked to the arrival of her good Samaritan?

If you have an inner life, you inevitably have a double life. It remained to be seen which of the two lives would gobble up the other.Brice and Emma had bought their new home in the countryside together. And then Emma disappeared. Now, as he awaits her return, Brice busies himself with DIY and walks around the village. He gradually comes to know his new neighbours including Blanche, an enigmatic woman in white, who has lived on her own in the big house by the graveyard since the death of her father, to whom Brice bears a curious resemblance . . .

Booker-winner John Banville has long heralded Pascal Garnier as the true heir to Simenon. Now, with a dozen of Garniers noirs available in English, Banville introduces a new edition of one of Garniers masterworks as part of a collection of contemporary and classic jewels of French literature.Hows the Pain? sees ageing pest exterminator Simon take on one last job on the Riveira, aided by young chauffeur Bernard. As the unlikely pair set off on their journey, Bernard soon finds that Simons definition of vermin is broader than hed expected... Veering from the hilarious to the horrific, this offbeat story from master stylist Pascal Garnier is at heart an affecting study of human frailty.

Written over a 15-year period from the mid 90s, Garniers short novels weave a profound and darkly comic tapestry of human experience. Volume 3 includes The Eskimo Solution, which combines the story of a struggling writer with excerpts of the crime novel hes writing, which will spill over into his own life; Low Heights, in which a cantankerous retiree falls for his nurse and finds himself confronted with a man claiming to be his long-lost son ... but the family reunion is threatened by the vultures circling above; and Too Close to the Edge, the tale of a quiet retirement in the foothills of the Alps turned upside down.

Vultures at least have the decency to wait until their prey is dead before they rip it to pieces . . .At the home in the mountains he shares with his put-upon nurse, Thérèse, cantankerous retiree Édo

Written over a 15-year period from the mid 90s, Garniers short novels feature a recurring set of themes, characters and settings, and reading them side by side allows the authors profound and darkly comic tapestry of human experience to be fully appreciated. Volume 1 includes The A26, in which a new Picardy motorway brings modernity close to a flat in which a brother and sister live together, haunted by terminal illness and the events of 1945; Hows the Pain?, the tale of an ageing pest exterminator taking on one last job on the French Riviera; and The Panda Theory, in which a stranger, Gabriel, arrives in a Breton town and befriends the locals ... but is he as angelic as he seems?

Fabien and Sylvie had both known their marriage was no longer working. And yet when Sylvie is involved in a fatal car accident, her husband is stunned to discover that she had a lover who died alongside her.With thoughts of revenge on his mind, Fabien decides to find out about the lovers widow, Martine, first by stalking her, then by breaking into her home.He really needs to get Martine on her own. But she never goes anywhere without her formidable best friend, Madeleine...

A trippy, sleazy, sly and classy read A. L. KennedyMarc dreams of going somewhere far, far away - but hell start by taking his cat and his grown-up daughter, Anne, to an out-of-season resort on the Channel. Reluctant to go home, the curious threesome head south for Agen, whose main claim to fame is its prunes. As their impromptu road trip takes ever stranger turns, the trail of destruction - and mysterious disappearances - mounts up in their wake.Shocking, hilarious and poignant, this final book from Pascal Garnier, published shortly before his death, is the author on top form.

Happiness for those unused to it is like food for the starving - a little too much can be fatal.Writer Jeff Colombier is not accustomed to success. Twice divorced with a grown-up son he barely sees, he drinks too much and his books dont sell. Then he wins a big literary prize and his life changes for ever. Overwhelmed by his newfound wealth and happiness, he feels the need to escape and recapture his lost youth, taking his son, Damien, with him. And if shady characters lead them down ever more dangerous paths . . . well, cest la vie.

Natures a funny old thing, it does whatever it pleases.Given the choice, Martial would not have moved to Les Conviviales. But Odette loved the idea of a brand-new retirement village in the south of France. So that was that. At first it feels like a terrible mistake: theyre the only residents and its raining non-stop. Then three neighbours arrive, the sun comes out, and life becomes far more interesting and agreeable. Until, that is, some travellers set up camp just outside their gated community . . .

Its a few days before Christmas in Versailles. Olivier has come to bury his mother, but the impending holidays and icy conditions have delayed the funeral.While trapped in limbo at his mothers flat, a chance encounter brings Olivier back in touch with childhood friend Jeanne and her blind brother, Rodolphe.Rodolphe suggests they have dinner together, along with a homeless man hes taken in. As the wine flows, dark secrets are spilled, and theres more than just hangovers to deal with the next morning...