Royan crime fiction, a plot that serves the region and appeals to holidaymakers

If we were to believe the number of detective novels recounting murders in the Royan region, the police would have cause for concern. Often amateur authors, most of them retired, take up the pen and mix intrigue and discovery of a territory

On the promenade along Nauzan beach, a stall covered in exclusively regional books attracts attention. Among them, local thrillers. "Triple Enigma in Royan," "Investigation in Pontaillac," and "The Royannaise Trilogy" by Jacques-Edmond Machefert are displayed facing the public. At the Taunay Damien Distribution stand, the 79-year-old author is signing his thrillers: the three volumes of his trilogy and his latest book, "Emportés par la houle" (Terres de l'Ouest). Convinced by discussions with the writer, Jeanne and her mother Laurence bought his four thrillers. "We love crime stories, and it's great to support small local writers."

Two sisters, Stéphanie and Émilie, bought two. "We've been coming to Pontaillac on vacation for 26 years, so naturally, we find ourselves in local books," smiles Émilie. "I'm captivated by the story. I always want to go further," adds Stéphanie, a book lover.

Martine confirms. "When I'm immersed in local thrillers, I look at the time and tell myself it's already time for bed." While passing by the Royan newsagent's, the retiree has the pleasant surprise of running into Fleur Poirier at the store's entrance. The enthusiast is signing books for her two thrillers, "Mystère à Oléron" and "Mystère en Charente-Maritime," published by La Geste. Her first thriller, released in May 2024, had sold around 1,000 copies as of December 31.

Standing in front of the twenty or so Charente-Maritime thrillers spread out before him, the manager of the newsagent, Robert Delahaye, is impressed by the success of these local mysteries. "It's one of our biggest literary sales, especially in the summer. We often have stock shortages."

“People love mysteries, and crime fiction is a kind of escape for them. They feel like it's happening on the pages and not in real life, and thankfully so. Especially since the stories are mostly solved, which isn't always the case in reality,” says Fleur Poirier.

For Olivier Merbau, author of "Enquête à Pontaillac" published by La Geste, "it's a type of literature that doesn't require a lot of concentration and is easy to read on public transport and on the beach." This explains its success among holidaymakers, who are very moved by books that take place in their holiday resort.

The detective novel style is, above all, an excuse for most of the authors interviewed. A pretext for discovering a territory. Fleur Poirier, for example, highlighted the Coubre Lighthouse in "Mystères en Charente-Maritime," in the face of the threat of destruction hanging over the iconic scout of the Arvert Peninsula. For Jacques-Edmond Machefert, it's about highlighting landscapes and characters that are the fruit of his lifelong experience as a Breuilleton.

In "Carried Away by the Swell," for example, he introduces us to the oyster farming world and its economic problems. "It's easier to imagine a plot in places we know by heart." Thierry Collard, author of "Meurtre à Saintes," says he has felt that publishers are looking to establish a presence in a particular territory, to better cover the crime fiction sector.

Why are there so many murders in Charente-Maritime?

"It's attractive to have proximity, to recognize your street or even the café where you read your newspaper [preferably Sud Ouest] in the morning," deduces Romain Naudin, general director of La Geste. His publishing house, based in Niort, launched its "Geste noir" crime fiction collection 17 years ago, with a regionalist editorial line. "We ask our authors to consider the city as a character. When the territory isn't covered enough, we refuse." The publishing house releases around fifty titles per year in its collection, which is the best-selling along with the children's collection.

Whereas La Geste continues to thrive in local crime fiction by publishing authors who are overwhelmingly amateur, Éditions Sud Ouest no longer publishes local crime novels, as one of the two editors, Catherine Dubreil, explains. “About ten years ago, it worked very well. But today, we don’t sell enough. When a crime novel is set on the Côte de Beauté, we don’t sell a single one in Béarn.” The editor adds that “everyone has rushed into this sector, both publishers and authors, so there is now a saturation of the market.” Fleur Poirier laughs: “The public often asks me ‘why are there so many murders in Charente-Maritime?’”