mysterious serial murders in Montpellier

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The Montpellier writer Thierry Viala publishes “Purple glows”, a detective novel about mysterious murders which are bloody in Clapas: two journalists lead the investigations until they uncover the police truth. Theatrics, intrigues, dark humor sometimes to lighten the atmosphere, breathtaking scenes, suspense follow one another in this captivating 500-page thriller, until the unexpected outcome.

Thierry Viala, a former telecommunications executive sets the scene: news reporter Titoan Coustou and his partner Florentin Ventadour are journalists at the Montpellier periodical Le Clapasien. The first, a forty-year-old stubborn in his determined quest for truth, has a strong sense of the truth, with a single objective: to reveal affairs, particularly corruption. The second, a sixty-year-old helps him in his investigations, especially since he knows the shenanigans of Montpellier well.

Three other characters appear in the novel: Max Cambiayre, the editor-in-chief of the two nosy scribblers, Pierrette Casterats, the assistant editor-in-chief and Matsumi, a young Japanese editor who attaches great importance to the precision of details. So much for the presentations, before a historical prologue and on the Catholic Church which calls into question, the attack on criminal cases against a backdrop of more or less spectacular financial problems.

Many twists and turns

From the first pages, we are quickly plunged into the bath with the manager of La Pampa, an equestrian center in Grabels who, at the wheel of his car in the dismal towns of the Mosson plunged into night, is suspicious of the abnormal ride of 'a biker with his head hidden by a sinister skull and crossbones helmet. What follows, everything comes together like a good thriller, with blood flowing, gunshots, corpses, miraculous victims, survivors and many twists and turns.

Undoubtedly, the author had no difficulty in drawing inspiration from the daily news in Montpellier, where gunpowder never stops talking in neighborhoods housing highly coveted deal points, with the recent death of a grocer at night and a witness who came to help him, charred in the Pas du Loup sector.

In the 35 chapters which keep us in suspense in the 500 pages, we can say that there is nothing happening with the two very invested news items who are thirsty for the truth, until the unexpected epilogue. The situations described throughout the pages are imbued with local references, allowing readers to get to know Montpellier better – the unmissable Place de la Comédie, Place de la Canourgue, its surroundings – the Castries aqueduct, the Pérols church , the abbey of Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues – but also the Thau pond in Sète, Notre-Dame de Londres, other rural villages of the Pic Saint-Loup, and Lake Salagou, thus experiencing total immersion in its environment.

True stories?

Magnificent places in Hérault that delight tourists, with these questions: did the characters and stories that are so true really exist in the life of Thierry Viala? And through these two Tintin and Rouletabille, is he referring to reporters who have been active in the past in Montpellier? Or did the author make it all up? So in this case, hats off!

These “purple glows” deserve to be taken out of the shadows and brought to the light, highlighting the talent of Montpellier native Thierry Viala, who deserves to make the front page of Metropolitan, where the news is king. We are impatiently awaiting his next novel.

> Purple Lights by Thierry Viala in the “Crimes and Punishments” collection from Les Presses littéraires. 500 pages, price: €19

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