The Strange Case of Monsieur Bertin

by Douglas Preston

Part of Pendergast, book 18.5

First published 2019

Inspector Aloysius Pendergast receives word that his childhood tutor has died. The FBI agent travels from New York to New Orleans with his protege Constance Greene to attend Mr. Bertin's funeral. The 81-year-old man's death appears natural, but Pendergast senses something amiss. His instincts tell him the death signals approaching danger. This unpublished story introduces readers to the FBI's most unconventional investigator, a modern detective in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes. Set in the atmospheric city of Pendergast's youth, the tale explores the bonds between mentor and student while hinting at darker forces at work. As Pendergast confronts his past in the place that shaped him, he must determine whether his suspicions about Mr. Bertin's demise are justified or merely the product of old grief and guilt.

Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller

Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful

Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator

Setting: New York, New Orleans

Period: modern

70 pages · ebook · Grand Central

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