Fred Vargas

Fred Vargas (the pen name of archaeologist Frederique Audoin-Rouzeau) was born in 1957 in Paris. In her literary name, she retained her first name Frederique but chose the surname of the character played by Ava Gardner in the film "The Barefoot Contessa." Following the success of her initial books in the 1990s, her star has been steadily rising in the realm of crime fiction. According to her academic background, she is an archaeologist and historian specializing in the Middle Ages. Her studies have influenced the plots of some of her books. Among the fictional characters she has created are a historian specializing in prehistory, a medievalist, and a specialist in World War I (1914-1918). Her work has been repeatedly honored. Her novel "Debout les morts" (1995, Greek translation "Εξαφάνιση Ελληνίδας αοιδού") won the Crime Novel Critics Award in 1996, the Polar Award from the city of Le Mans in 1995, and its English translation (titled "The Three Evangelists") won the first Duncan Lawrie International Dagger Award in the UK in 2006. Additionally, her book "L' Homme aux cercles bleus" received the Saint-Nazaire Festival Award in 1992. "Ask the Wind" won the Grand Prix for Noir Novel from the city of Cognac in 2000 and the Critics' Award for Mystery Novel in the same year. In 2001, the script for the comic "Les Quatre Fleuves" won the Alph-Art Award. Her novel "Pars vite et reviens tard" received the Crime Novel Award, the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle, and the Booksellers' Award in 2002 (Prix des Libraires 2002). She has also been honored three times with the International Dagger and recently received the Deutscher Krimipreis in Germany. It is noteworthy that her works have been translated into forty languages, and her novel "Pars vite et reviens tard" was adapted into a film, while four other books were made into TV movies. Works: - "Ceux qui vont mourir te saluent," 1994 (novel, Greek translation "Ειδικός απεσταλμένος," Σύγχρονοι Ορίζοντες, 2001) - "Debout les morts," 1995 (novel, Greek translation "Εξαφάνιση Ελληνίδας αοιδού," Libro 2002) - "L' Homme aux cercles bleus," 1996 (novel) - "Un peu plus loin sur la droite," 1996 (novel) - "Sans feu ni lieu," 1997 (novel) - "L'Homme a l'envers," 1999 (novel, Greek translation "Ρώτα τον άνεμο," Σύγχρονοι Ορίζοντες, 2000) - "Les Quatre Fleuves," 2000 (graphic novel, illustrated by Baudoin) - "Petit traité de toutes vérités sur l'existence," 2001 (essay) - "Pars vite et reviens tard," 2001 (novel, Greek translation "Φύγε γρήγορα, γύρνα αργά," Σύγχρονοι Ορίζοντες, 2003) - "Critique de l'anxiété pure," 2003 (essay) - "Sous les vents de Neptune," 2004 (novel, Greek translation "Το σημάδι της τρίαινας," Σύγχρονοι Ορίζοντες, 2006) - "Dans les bois éternels," 2006 (novel, Greek translation "Στα αιώνια δάση," Σύγχρονοι Ορίζοντες, 2009) - "Un lieu incertain," 2008 (novel, Greek translation "Ένας αβέβαιος τόπος," Σύγχρονοι Ορίζοντες, 2011) - "L'armée furieuse," 2011 (novel, Greek translation "Η μανιακή στρατιά," Λιβάνης, 2012) - etc.