The Circle (66 page)
Authors: Bernard Minier
âI'm ready,' he said, when it opened.
As a rule, I have taken great liberties with geography. Some people might locate Marsac in one place, other people will think it is elsewhere â and they will all be both right and wrong. Of course there is no âOxford or Cambridge of the Southwest'. My Southwest is a country almost as imaginary as Tolkien's marvellous Middle Earth.
I also took some liberties with the everyday reality of police work when I felt constrained, as if I were wearing a pair of shoes that were too small, and even greater liberties with the complicated justice system. Nevertheless I must extend my thanks to a number of people for their precious advice, their guided tours and their assistance, which prevented me from making glaring mistakes. In order of appearance, Sylvie Feucher, general secretary of the union of senior police commissioners and officials, Paul Mérault, Christophe Guillaumot, José Mariet and Yves Le Hir from the Toulouse police force. As always, any errors (intentional or not) that remain are mine. Thanks too to Stéphane Hauser for his musical advice; he will forgive me for not always following it. Finally, I must extend my thanks to my editors at XO who, once again, have performed the miracle of changing water to wine, and to the incredible editorial team at XO and Pocket; to my wife, who, as ever, makes my life easier; and to Greg, my first reader, friend, confidant, coach and sparring partner combined. Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to someone who had the poor taste to depart ten days before the publication of my previous novel: my mother, Marie Sopena Minier. The fact that she didn't have the time to read it was not easy to accept.
BERNARD MINIER
grew up in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. He had a career as a customs official before publishing his first novel,
The Frozen Dead,
in 2011. The novel has been translated into a dozen languages and has garnered critical acclaim as well as several literary prizes in France. Minier lives in the Essonne, south of Paris. You can sign up for author updates
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE CIRCLE
. Copyright © 2012 by XO Ãditions. Translation copyright © 2015 by Alison Anderson. All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
eISBN 97814668442549
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First published in France under the title
Le Cercle
by XO Ãditions
Previously published in Great Britain under the title
A Song for Drowned Souls
by Mulholland Books, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, an Hachette UK company
First U.S. Edition: October 2015