120, rue de la Gare by Malet and Tardi
I never really got into Tardi's adaptations of Malet's Nouveaux Mystères de Paris. Except for this one, the first one. 120 rue de la Gare is in many ways a more elaborate and powerful story, because it's set during world war 2 and because it draws perhaps more obviously from whodunnit tropes. But it's also a chunkier story that takes its time to unravel. Interestingly, Nestor Burma, our lead character and the head of the Fiat Lux detective agency does not get hit on the head in this one, as he will in virtually every subsequent story. We also get a quasi Poirot-esque ending, which I don't remember seeing in subsequent Malet novels. Tardi's work here is wonderful. His ability to develop the bleakness of occupied Paris and particularly or "free" Lyon is unrivaled, and it makes this adaptation second to none. If you must have one, it's this one.
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