Nicolas Le Floch is a fictional character, the hero of a series of police detective novels written by Jean-François Parot that take place principally in Paris in the 18th century.
Biography
Nicolas Le Floch was raised in Guérande, Brittany, by Canon Le Floch. He studied with the Jesuits at Vannes, then became a legal clerk in Rennes. When the series of novels begins, in 1761, he is sent to Paris with a letter of recommendation from his godfather, the Marquis de Ranreuil, to Monsieur de Sartine, head of secret affairs for Louis XV, who has just been named the Lieutenant General of Police in Paris. Nicolas puts himself at de Sartine’s service and solves various criminal cases, aided by his second in command, Inspector Pierre Bourdeau. The novels follow his social advancement and his romantic liaisons in the last decades before the French Revolution. In the first volume, Nicolas learns he is, in fact, the illegitimate son of the Marquis de Ranreuil and, thus, the half-brother of the marquis’ daughter, Isabelle, whom he is in love with. The king rewards Nicolas for the success of his first investigation with the office of “commissaire” of police at the Châtelet. Also in this book, Nicolas meets those who will surround and support him in his life in Paris : Aimé de Noblecourt, former procurator and lover of fine food, with whom Nicolas lodges; Doctor Guillaume Semacgus, naval surgeon; Monsieur de La Borde, First Groom of the King’s Bedchamber; Charles-Henri Sanson, Paris hangman and in charge of autopsies; along with the servants and expert cooks Marion and Catherine. Parot mixes fictional characters and historical figures. At the death of Louis XV, when de Sartine is named State Secretary of the Navy, Nicolas comes under the orders of Monsieur Le Noir. At the beginning of his time in Paris, before the start of the main action in the series, he had a liaison with a young woman, Antoinette Godelet, who later falls into prostitution under the name of La Satin, and she had a son, Louis, whom he recognizes in the fifth volume. It is also in that book that he meets and falls in love with Aimée d’Arranet, daughter of a Lieutenant General of the Naval Armies.
Novels
Les enquêtes de Nicolas Le Floch, commissaire au Châtelet and the first English editions 1. L'Énigme des Blancs-Manteaux, 2000,. -- The Châtelet Apprentice, 2007,. 2. L'Homme au ventre de plomb, 2000,. -- The Man with the Lead Stomach, 2008,. 3. Le Fantôme de la rue Royale, 2001,. -- The Phantom of the Rue Royale, 2008,. 4. L'Affaire Nicolas Le Floch, 2002,. -- The Nicolas Le Floch Affair, 2009,. 5. Le Crime de l'hôtel Saint-Florentin, 2004,. -- The Saint-Florentin Murders, 2010,. 6. Le Sang des farines, 2005,. -- The Baker's Blood, 2012,. 7. Le Cadavre anglais, 2007,. 8. Le Noyé du grand canal, 2009,. 9. L'Honneur de Sartine, 2010,. 10. L'enquête russe, 2012,. 11. L'Année du volcan, 2013,. 12. La Pyramide de glace, 2014,. 13. L'Inconnu du pont Notre-Dame, 2015,. 14. Le Prince de Cochinchine'', 2017,.
Television adaptations
Episodes
Nicolas Le Floch, the adventures of Jean-François Parot’s hero are the subject of a television series broadcast on the French channel France 2. Nicolas Le Floch is played by Jérôme Robart. For historical authenticity, episodes have been filmed in Paris, Le Mans, Île-de-France and the Dordogne. The episodes 5, 6, 7, 8 are original stories written by Hugues Pagan.
