Me? I’m Moi-Même, a cheeky former Parisian servant and, by necessity, amateur investigator. In 1818, my master and friend, a certain Honoré de Balzac, embroiled me in a bizarre case. He wanted to save his uncle, Balssa, accused of strangling a young pregnant woman.
Balzac, who could work through the night with coffee and his own resourcefulness, dragged me into the most sordid corners and the most dubious inns in search of a truth that kept slipping away. We encountered witches and peddlers, devious witnesses and less-than-honest notables. We tried everything: disguises, blackmail, interrogations, fights—only to come up against lies, parochial hatreds and a stone-heavy silence. We were a duo like no others in an investigation where humor and gravity alternated, where justice wavered and crimes of the heart were intertwined with village rivalries.
A remarkable detective novel that reveals a Balzac you may not yet know—playful, cunning, courageous, and above all, human. Simply human.
