Nestor Burma is a fictional character created by French crime novelist Léo Malet.
Overview
In the Burma series, one can isolate a subset of novels each set in a different quarter (
arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...
) of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
hardboiled
Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...
private detective, in the mold of American characters such as Sam Spade and
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe ( ) is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The genre originated in the 1920s, notably in '' Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiell Hammett's The Cont ...
but decidedly more humorous. He works with a secretary, Hélène, who is hopelessly infatuated with Nestor, in what he calls the "
Fiat Lux
"Let there be light" is an English translation of the biblical Hebrew , Hebrew (''yehi 'or'') found in Genesis 1:3 of the Torah, the first part of the Hebrew Bible. In Old Testament translations of the phrase, translations include the Greek l ...
Agency". Burma's nemeses are typically just as much the police investigating the crime as they are the original perpetrators. Specifically, he often matches wits with Commissaire Faroux and Inspector Fabre.
Adaptations
The novels have been adapted numerous times, most notably as a television series starring Guy Marchand, which began in 1991.
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema.
A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...
*''Les Rats de Montsouris'', directed by Maurice Frydland (TV film, 1988), with Gérard Desarthe
*''Nestor Burma'' (TV series, 39 episodes, 1991–2003), with Guy Marchand
Select titles
*''120, rue de la Gare'' (1943)
*''Le cinquième procédé'' (The Fifth Process) (1948)
*''Le soleil naît derrière le Louvre'' (The Sun Rises Behind the Louvre) (1954)
*''Des kilomètres de linceuls'' (Kilometers of Shrouds) (1955)
*''Fièvre au Marais'' (Marais Fever) (1955)
*''La nuit de Saint-Germain-des-Prés'' (The night of Saint-Germain-des-Prés) (1955)
*''M'as-tu vu en cadavre?'' (Have you seen me as a corpse?) (1956)
*''Brouillard au pont de Tolbiac'' (Fog at the Tolbiac Bridge) (1956)
*''Casse-pipe à la Nation'' (1957)
*''Micmac moche au Boul' Mich (1957)
*''Nestor Burma court la poupée'' (1971)
Other media
A series of
graphic novels
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...
by artist Jacques Tardi have also been published to great critical acclaim. The third in this series was an original story by Tardi.