(Keltia n° 23 – juin/août 2012 – Editions du Nemeton)
Open on my desk, at the very page of the article I’m going to write about today, lies the new issue of Keltia, one of my favourite French magazines which I’ve already mentioned in Scotiana. Indeed, I wrote an article about the Pictish stones in this magazine a few months ago. This very interesting, splendidly illustrated magazine is the result of a hard work done by a team of passionate people during their leisure time and with few means. Keltia was created several years ago with the aim of reviving our Celtic heritage, a very rich culture which has been and is still so neglected and which goes far beyond our national frontiers.
(Keltia n° 8 – avril 2008 – Editions du Nemeton)
Look at Keltia‘s colourful covers, so evocative of an ancient world from which come echoes of long-forgotten myths and legends. Isn’t this mysterious world appealing to you? Considering the popularity of such authors as Tolkien or J. K. Rowling, to mention only the most famous ones and the growing interest in books about Celtic culture I think it certainly does. It’s a pity there is not an English version of this French magazine though I know that some of our readers are French and that many of our English readers can read French.
There is a great variety of subjects in Keltia in the fields of archeology, history, graphic art and music, literature and even food. In the last issue, I fell on a very interesting article about a French author who writes detective novels. They immediately triggered my curiosity for the hero of these novels happens to be a Scottish Inspector based in Edinburgh. The article is entitled ‘JEN ou l’Écosse au coeur. Des polars pas comme les autres’ : JEN is for John-Erich Nielsen, the author of this new murder stories. I’ve listened with great pleasure to John-Erich Nielsen’s recent interview with Radio Motus. !! Wow !! He is a great fan of Scotland, he likes Conan Doyle and Stevenson, and also Agatha Christie…
As soon as I got to know Inspector Sweeney, an immediately recognizable character with his emblematic ‘sand wedge’ as ‘porte-bonheur’, the unforgettable aunt Midge 😉 and the funny dog Berthie, I fell under the spell. I’ve nearly finished the first novel which is entitled Meurtre au dix-huitième trou. This book was published in 2005 and has just been translated into English. I do hope the other ones will be translated soon. Eight novels have been published so far and two are in preparation. The next one in the series is entitled Crime à l’heure du Tay 😉 and it will be published in July. It has not escaped to me that the author will be at the Aubigny-sur-Nère festivities in July, so we’ll try to have this book dedicated by him in this mythical place where everything is done not to forget the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland.
.
.
.
Added to Meurtre au dix-huitième trou which I’ve just mentioned I’ve also bought Les démons de l’île de Skye and Le serment des Highlands. The action of these novels takes place in some of the most beautiful landscapes of Scotland which the author knows pretty well for he spends much time there each year. But I intend to read all Inspector Sweeney’s adventures. I’m becoming addicted. These stories, full of humour and suspense read easily and quickly (beware of the sleepless night).
The storyline
Amanda Nelson is dead… She was the mistress of Will Tyron Jr., the world’s number 1 golfer. And the daughter of General Boyle, a military advisor to the former President of the United States.
Passion surrounds this woman… Too much passion: she was found buried in a bunker at St Andrews Golf Course, her head bashed in…“I still shiver when I think back on the start of the investigation… I was quite far from imagining at that time that the investigation would lead me from the Scottish coast, through Georgia and the mugginess of the American South, to a wind-beaten Irish Moor.
And how could I have expected what was going to happen there? My goodness! It was going to be a test of my mettle…”Archibald Sweeney – Criminal Investigation Department, Edinburgh
I’ve found several interesting articles about Scotland in the previous issues of Keltia. Below is a selection of these articles.
(Keltia n° 22 – février/avril 2012 – Editions du Nemeton)
‘ Le Livre de Kells’ (Anne Garnier) –
‘ L’Ecosse reprendra-t-elle son destin en main ?’ (Fabien Régnier)
(Keltia n° 20 – août/octobre 2011 – Editions du Nemeton)
‘Vers l’indépendance de l’Ecosse’ (Fabien Régnier)
‘Harry Potter chez les Druides!’ (J-M)
‘Le whisky: boisson celtique divine’ (Chloé Chamouton)
(Keltia n° 18 – février/avril 2011 – Editions du Nemeton)
Les mystérieux symboles des pierres pictes (Mairiuna)
Enquêtes sur les peintures pictes (Fabien Régnier)
Calgacos – héros de la liberté (Fabien Régnier)
George Gunn (Robert Martin)
Thomas le Poète (Ozégan)
…………………………………………………..
If you’re looking for good summer reading then put Murder on the Green in your luggage. You’ll discover a new Scottish hero in a captivating detective story which will lead you first on the famous St Andrews Golf Course in company of the unforgettable Inspector Sweeney, the new recruit of the Edinburgh Criminal Investigation Department …
Bonne lecture!
A bientôt.
Mairiuna
(Keltia n° 15 – février/avril 2010 – Editions du Nemeton)
Leave a Reply