“The Judas Tree” by Michalis Makropoulos: in the frozen heart of Epirus

Find all the latest crime fiction news and books that have caught Libé's eye on this page . And subscribe to the Libé Polar newsletter by clicking here.

Let's be clear: if you're feeling down, this book isn't for you. It's so melancholic that you gradually feel yourself sinking into a layer of darkness with no real bottom. But it's beautiful, beautifully written, and immensely poetic.

We are in Greece, on the border with Albania. But this is not the idyllic Greece of summer holidays with turquoise water and tomato and feta salad, no. Far from it, this is a cold, gray, almost distressing Greece, that of remote villages where poverty rubs shoulders with corruption and virility. At 53, Ilias has returned to live with his mother. He lost his job, left his wife who cheated on him with her former partner, left his children Maria and Angueliki, and fled Athens to return to his native village, Delvinaki, in Epirus, with two suitcases as his only possessions: one filled with clothes, the other with books.

It wasn't easy, at that age and after such a succession of failures, to live with his mother again. "His mother's sad, silent expression personified the wreckage of his own life. He hated her because she was his only refuge. He hated her for what she thought and didn't say because she was afraid of him, because she was afraid of his anger, and because she didn't want to hurt him. He hated her for looking at him with such concern." In reality, Ilias adores his mother. "It was himself he hated when he saw his reflection in her compassionate gaze." Especially since this late autumn was particularly harsh, the north wind was blowing an icy breeze and the snow was weighing down the treetops.

"December passed with the strange rapidity of time when it's empty," writes Michalis Makropoulos. Ilias had thought about popping to Athens to spend some time with his daughters for Christmas, but the idea of seeing them in a hurry in an impersonal bar held him back. He'll send them a gift. Ilias befriends Police Commander Kotsomendis, the only one who tries to sweeten his life with rounds of tsipouro, the pomace brandy that goes down like milk, and tries to avoid crossing paths with Yannogassis, a first-rate schemer and trafficker whom everyone tells him to be wary of. Many migrants pass through this place, so he may not be a stranger to this coming and going.

Until the day when, outside the village, the body of an unknown woman is discovered, abandoned in the snow, mutilated with a sharp tool. Ilias knows the place well; he saw two men nearby shortly before the murder, and while hanging around the scene of the crime, he automatically picked up the button of a coat or jacket that had fallen there. He is firmly convinced that Yannogassis is not innocent in this tragedy.

After Black Water (2023), The Judas Tree is the second book by Michalis Makropoulos published in French by Agullo. A writer and literary translator, the author divides his time between the island of Lefkada and his village of Delvinaki. His magnificent descriptions are thus drawn directly from the source. We very much hope to have the opportunity to read it again.