Interview. Coups Bas in Nozeroy, this new 100% Jura thriller has just been released

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Voice of the Jura: Philippe Bétry, tell us about your journey, which took you from Paris to the Jura?

I was born in August 1947 in Paris, into a Parisian family. I made my journalism school before leaving for military service in the alpine hunters in Grenoble. At the end I found work at Dauphiné Libéréat the headquarters in Grenoble. I stayed there for a few months before being sent to Lons-le-Saunier. I've been there since the end of the 70s so we can say that I am a Jura resident by adoption. I have been retired since 2004, which allowed me to take care of the Areopagus editions with a friend, while continuing to write articles, particularly on history.

Vdj: It was Constance Rameaux who wrote the first two books in the collection, how did you get involved with the project?

I know well Constance Rameaux. It was precisely while I was reviewing one of her books that she asked me to participate in the Jura Noir collection by writing a novel. She and the editor left me carte blanche for the plotwhich I constructed as I wrote. I just had to base part of the story in Nozeroy to continue the game of novel titles by assonance.

Vdj: Can you tell us more about the plot?

Of the corpses are discovered at the foot of famous statuesin Nozeroy as in other Jura towns. This is the captain Grassetby Champagnole, who leads this investigation like no otherwhich will take him from the Cité des Chalon (Nozeroy) to the former capital of Franche-Comté (Dole), via Poligny or Lons-le-Saunier… And the affair would already be quite complex, if he was not harassed by an impatient hierarchy, an irascible prosecutor, a mastiff in need of affection and a invasive blogger looking like a “Green Lady”…

Vdj: You have already written books on straw wine or Jura heritage but Coups bas à Nozeroy is your first novel, how did you experience this new adventure?

As a journalist I used to tell the reality but imagining a story is still different. It was kind of a challenge. I don't read a lot of detective novels, though. I watch a lot of detective series on TV and I was inspired by it. I tried to do something very colorful. Serious, without taking yourself seriously. Ultimately it’s a form of writing that I really liked. So much so that I am in the process of writing more. I don't know if they will succeed but it amuses me.

Vdj: The places in the novel and the history of local heritage are true, what about the characters?

Some are obviously fictitious but others are inspired by existing people. We'll see if the reader can make the connection. In any case he will be able to learn more about a personality originally from the Jura, a writer and journalist. And learn more about Jura statueswhich I listed non-exhaustively at the end of the novel.

Vdj: Do you have anything to add?

Yes, that I am married, that I have three children and a grandson. I am very happy.

Z4 Editions. €14, on order in all Jura bookstores or on the Z4editions.com website.

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