Review: World War II marks a small French town
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2012
In a sense this novel takes place almost 70 years ago, during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II. Diplomat Robbie Cutler investigates the murder of Katherine, a Resistance agent whose skeleton has been discovered in a cave, by interviewing surviving members of the Resistance. He puts the pieces together like so many tiles in an historic mosaic.Yet Shepard's book is as current as today's newspaper. The Chateau de Rastignac plays a crucial part in MURDER IN DORDOGNE. Burned by the Nazis in 1944, it has been reconstructed. The resemblance to the White House in Washington, D.C. is startling.Solving the fictional Katherine's murder turns on the apparent looting of art masterpieces from the chateau. It is suggested that the Nazis hauled the paintings out of the burning chateau and spirited them away. Mentioned in Shepard's book is Van Gogh's "Still Life Vase with Oleanders" painted in 1888, still missing and presumed stolen. Wikipedia has the real-life story and a photo of the painting.The author served as American Consul General in France, putting him in the perfect spot to research this novel. As a World War II buff I was fascinated by the complexity of the war in just one small French town near Bordeaux. I marvel that the different groups could keep track of what was going on and that so many survived.Forces working with and against one another: The Resistance also known as Maquis; SOE or Special Operations Executives working with the Resistance; the Jedburghs, three-man teams parachuted into France in 1944 to establish liaison between Resistance and Allied military units; the Milices, or Vichy French paramilitary groups; and, of course, the Nazis everywhere.The groups were small and each person had two different code names. Nothing was left to chance, not even French slang or current food ration tickets. Add to that the nightly coded broadcasts via BBC radio in London to keep everyone informed. As protagonist Robbie Cutler observes: "The main feeling you get from that time is a confused mix of optimism, hope and extreme danger."Inspector Georges Goujeau describes establishing order in France after the war: (Quote) "Vengeance becomes ugly, and it begets retaliation. Innocent people begin to die. Therefore law and order must be established, as quickly as possible. And the best way to do it is to bring charges, real criminal charges that will hold up in a criminal court of law, against those who were criminally responsible and who were hated. When people see that the law is in place and is working, they calm down. Order is restored. Then grief can be channeled in a civilized way, and things can begin to return to normal or at least, what passes for normal." (End Quote)I like the diplomatic world of Robbie Cutler, his father Trip and his Uncle Seth. Robbie and his wife Sylvie are honeymooning in France but he can't resist digging into Katherine's murder. She was Uncle Seth's fiancé and he never knew what happened to her.Robbie's main leads come from interviews with Jean Drapeau, who was head of the Resistance, and Drapeau's enemy Reynaud Dorlot, head of the hated Milice. Oddly enough it is Dorlot who gives him the most helpful information.When Robbie figures out who murdered Katherine he passes the information along to the right person, planting the seed for retribution.