We Were the Salt of the Sea: Book ONE in the award-winning, atmospheric Detective Moralès series

By Roxanne Bouchard

When the body of a woman is discovered in a fisherman’s net in Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, new recruit Detective Sergeant Joaquin Moralès is thrown in at the deep end… First in a beautifully written, atmospheric and addictive new series. 

***Runner-up for the Scott Moncrieff Prize for Translations from French***

‘Wonderfully atmospheric … I genuinely couldn’t put this book down’ Gill Paul

'You might want to grab this release if you've read everything by Louise Penny and need more Quebecois noir to feed your crime-loving tendencies’ Crime Fiction Lover

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Truth lingers in murky waters…

As Montrealer Catherine Day sets foot in a remote fishing village and starts asking around about her birth mother, the body of a woman dredges up in a fisherman’s nets. Not just any woman, though: Marie Garant, an elusive, nomadic sailor and unbridled beauty who once tied many a man’s heart in knots. Detective Sergeant Joaquin Moralès, newly drafted to the area from the suburbs of Montreal, barely has time to unpack his suitcase before he’s thrown into the deep end of the investigation.

On Quebec’s outlying Gaspé Peninsula, the truth can be slippery, especially down on the fishermen’s wharves. Interviews drift into idle chit-chat, evidence floats off with the tide and the truth lingers in murky waters. It’s enough to make DS Moralès reach straight for a large whisky…

Both a dark and consuming crime thriller and a lyrical, poetic ode to the sea, We Were the Salt of the Sea is a stunning, page-turning novel, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.

For fans of Ann Cleeves, Annie Proulx, Emma Stonex, Louise Penny and Jane Harper

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Praise for Roxanne Bouchard:

‘Colourful, authentic characters with the kind of flavour that can only be inspired by real locals. So good it’ll make you want to pack your bags and drive straight to the seaside’ Journal de Montréal

‘Lyrical and elegiac, full of quirks and twists’ William Ryan

‘Asks questions right from page one’ Quentin Bates

‘An isolated Canadian fishing community, a missing mother, and some beautiful prose. Very impressed’ Eva Dolan

'A tour de force of both writing and translation’ Su Bristow

'The translation from French has retained a dreamily poetic cast to the language, but it's det-fic for all that, as DS Joaquin Morales, transplanted from balmy Mexican shores to a remote Quebecois fishing community, investigates a woman's death at sea’ Sunday Times

'Characters are well-drawn, from Moralès, the cop, and his sturdy inspector, Marlène, to the husky fishermen who were Marie's devoted suitors three decades ago. There's a comic element: the chef at the bistro, a mine of misleading information; the alcoholic priest who was never ordained - and the appalling undertaker who was once a used-car salesman and never forgot the spiel … An exotic curiosity, raw nugget’ Shots Mag

• Language: English
• Publisher: ORENDA BOOKS
• Release date: Jan 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781912374045

Roxanne Bouchard

Ten years or so ago, Roxanne Bouchard decided it was time she found her sea legs. So she learned to sail, first on the St Lawrence River, before taking to the open waters off the Gaspé Peninsula. The local fishermen soon invited her aboard to reel in their lobster nets, and Roxanne saw for herself that the sunrise over Bonaventure never lies. Her fifth novel (first translated into English) We Were the Salt of the Sea was published in 2018 to resounding critical acclaim, followed by The Coral Bride, which was a number-one bestseller in Canada, shortlisted for the CWA Translation Dagger and won the Crime Writers of Canada's Crime Book of the Year Award. Whisper of the Seals is her third novel. She lives in Quebec with her partner.

Reviews for We Were the Salt of the Sea

[nicx27 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two things drew me to this book. The beautiful cover was an instant draw, as any good cover should be, and the second thing was the blurb. I'm always attracted to books set near the sea and this one is set in Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula in a fishing village. So far so good.Catherine Day's adoptive parents have passed away and she's now looking for her birth mother and so has travelled to the peninsula to try and meet her. But a woman's body is caught in a fisherman's net and Catherine's plans change. Along comes Detective Sergeant Joaquin Morales, also new to the area and with problems of his own. I liked his sections best of all and think he's a character that could go far. I believe this book is the first in a series featuring him and I think he's interesting enough to be worth meeting again. I felt his story was left quite open for that purpose. I have to say that this book was not what I was expecting. It almost comes across as a cosy crime novel in many ways but I was expecting something more gritty. It has very much a closed in, small village feel to it - claustrophobic, where everybody knows everyone else's business. There are also some very quirky people living there, to say the least, and there seem to be a lot of people with catchphrases that they use constantly. I did think it was very evocative in that it wasn't hard to imagine the smell of the sea, the sight of the fishing boats etc.In all honesty, I struggled with the writing style. I think it's beautifully written and lyrical in style, but I just found it a bit difficult to engage with. I'm definitely swimming against the tide with that opinion though, as I've read many reviews from readers who have adored this book.In summary, perhaps not the right book for me, but absolutely for you if you love that enclosed community feel, a book with a mystery at its heart and poetic writing, and a fairly gentle feel to your crime novels.