Synopsis: Karmela Krimm was the most promising young detective on the Marseille police force until she volunteered to take the fall for an operation that went sideways. When Karmela lost her job and became a private investigator, her ideals went up in smoke along with her badge. Perhaps for the better: in the troubled waters she now navigates, ideals are a dangerous luxury.

Review: We meet Karmela sitting in a car, on a stakeout, camera in hand. Her God daughter Manon is in the car with her. She’s asking Karmela questions about her job for a supposed school project. Not only do we get to see some of their dynamic play out but it also provides an easy vehicle for a quick bit of back story. Her backstory is related in a single page, with four panels using a different stylized approach for the flashback. It’s a little pulpy, it gets right to some action, and hooks the reader into wanting more.

Karmela meets with a wealthy client whose big name, Mafia connected husband was recently killed. The powerful widow wants to hire Karmela look into her husband’s death because the police are moving slow and she’s being viewed suspiciously by her late husband’s business partners. During the fee negotiations we learn that the widow is willing to throw a lot of money at this and that Karmela is willing to (eventually) accept it. The widow lends Karmela the use of one of her tough guys, Tadj, a tall serious Muslim man, to be Karmela’s closed fist. And thus an unlikely partnership was born.

In an earlier draft of the story Tadj was actually the former cop turned PI protagonist. The story beats were there but it was missing something and through the collaboration with Trondheim, some reshuffling occurred and Karmela became the protag. It’s a change that served the story well.

There are some small funny moments in the story that are rooted in the characters rather than in searching for a setup and punchline. In a scuffle we see Karmela handle herself by kicking her opponent in the face. Later, she borrows a head covering and a modest dress/covering as a disguise to roust some goons for info, her kick fails because the clothes are too restricting. Clearly her go to move was foiled and the goon get the best of her. In another humorous moment Tadj is hungry and ready to break his fast, but they get interrupted and have to hide, only for his growling stomach to give away their position.

Karmela Krimm is firmly grounded in the form of the PI genre, which makes it immediately accessible. It also also allows for a short hand version of information to be delivered to the reader. When we get the character’s back story at the start of the book, it only covers a couple of panels but the reader is given everything they need. When she’s paired up with a partner and he is her opposite in many ways, the reader gets their that dynamic right away. We are on firm ground here.

We’ve already talked about Maggy Garrison by Lewis Trondheim (review). Clearly Trondheim loves detective stories. I would say that Karmela Krimm is a little more formalist than Maggy Garrison. It’s beats are more familiar and closer to the surface. Which I don’t really intend as a shared criticism. I really like this character, the dynamics with her partner and God daughter, and her grounded approach to detection.

Ramadan Blues is a great introduction to these characters and their corner of the world in le Panier and Marseille as well as a solid PI story. To date only Ramadan Blues has been translated into English but there are more volumes. Hopefully we‘ll get to see them one day.

Rating: positive/recommended

Availability: digitally through Amazon, and through library services like Hoopla and Comics Plus.