this night's foul work

This Night's Foul Work Fred Vargas

Dotty serendipity, quirky misfits, odd instinctiveness - Commissaire Adamsberg leads the Serious Crime Squad of Paris in some twisted adventures. In this, the third book of the series so far, Adamsberg's troops emerge as people .
There is Retancourt, earth Mother to the group and a force of nature, stupendous in her emotional strength. The way she conserves her energy and then expends it at the most crucial time leaves Adamsberg reeling. She is one character who confounds him, usually Adamsberg's encounters end with him confusing the other. Danglard is the second in charge. A cultured, knowledgeable widower with six children. He runs interference for his boss.
This Night's Foul Work is all about shades. Adamsberg can feel them settling around him - the past, ghosts and evil. This is definitely not a police procedural , maybe a police 'intuitional'? And Fred Vargas the author? She is an historian and archaelogist as well as one of France's best selling writers.