“How I found Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès”: the latest investigative novel by Montpellier-born Romain Puértolas

Romain Puertolas signe une enquête d'écrivain, doublée d'une enquête de police, et évoque de multiples scénarios pour la fuite de Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. Albin Michel – Eric Clément

Ten years after the worldwide success of "The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Stuck in an Ikea Wardrobe", the Montpellier-based writer, also a former police captain, explores a completely different universe: the police investigation coupled with a writer's investigation into this man on the run suspected of having killed his wife and four children in April 2011.

This is the affair that continues to intrigue the whole of France. Between April 3 and 6, 2011, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès is suspected of having murdered his wife, his four children and their two dogs in Nantes, found buried in their garden on April 21. The run of this indebted salesman, then aged 50, will keep the country in suspense. Seen one last time on video surveillance in Roquebrune-sur-Argens on April 15, 2011, Dupont de Ligonnès has since disappeared from radar. The arrest of a false suspect in Glasgow on October 11, 2019 will reignite the media hype surrounding this affair. Montpellier author Romain Puértolas reveals new disturbing elements.

Tell us first about your experience as a police captain…

I just resigned on January 1st. I had been on leave for ten years and the success of my novel “The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Stuck in an Ikea Wardrobe”. I had previously  worked in Paris in several border police departments, particularly on illegal immigration. 

The author: from the Fakir in the Ikea wardrobe to pure intrigues

Romain Puértolas was born in Montpellier in 1975 and lived there until the age of 10. After having notably been a language teacher and translator, he was revealed in 2013 by the monumental success of The Extraordinary Fakir who had remained stuck in an Ikea wardrobe (Le Dilettante), Renaudot prize for Lyvéens, sold worldwide at a million copies.

He then signed The Little Girl Who Swallowed a Cloud as Big as the Eiffel Tower, which he is preparing to adapt into an animated film. At Albin Michel, he had already signed pure intrigues with Sous the umbrella of Adelaide and Les Ravissantes.
 

What pushed you to write this book about the most wanted man in France ?

This is really the business that has fascinated me since 2011. A business with crazy charisma. It was truly a mission to find the trace of this man. Everyone certainly improvised as a detective, I did it with more enthusiasm because I was in the police. But after a while I left my notes aside because it became obsessive, it took up too much space in my life. 

Also read: Why the Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès affair still fascinates the French so much

did you really come across a neighbor who looked like Dupont de Ligonnès ?

Absolutely. That's how the affair came back into my life. I live in Malaga, in the south of Spain, and I saw this man who looked strangely like him. Hence the idea of ​​writing a novel on the subject. A police investigation coupled with a writer's investigation. The invented elements concern my private life. I liked making this mix between fiction and reality. I thus transform the fugitive into a reader of Midi Libre. I write that Ligonnès survived 13 years on coffee, 30 euros and Midi Libre. A nod to my childhood in the region. In Carcassonne, during the summer, my grandfather read Midi Libre and so did I.

You reveal that many leads were neglected in this investigation, notably that of a friend from Lunel of XDDL ?

This story is a real Emmental, there are holes everywhere! Nobody talked about the evening of the murder when Ligonnès' cell phone was turned off all day and at 10:40 p.m. , he receives a phone call from his best friend, the reluctant Michel from Lunel, then he turns off his phone again. As luck would have it, the two men will spend three days together in the Roquebrune sur-Argens region but the trail has not been explored further. We also haven't talked about the industrial zone where Ligonnès disappears. On the Google Map at the time, there were plenty of cash car sales dealerships. I don't spit on the police. It's the judge who tells them which way to look. I think there was too much excitement, that we got confused.

You don't believe that Ligonnès committed suicide ?

I am the only one to hypothesize that he went into the forest to get rid of his weapon. To me, it seems obvious. Why would he have killed himself so many days later ? He would have killed himself instantly, like everyone does. 

You mention a base, in the United States…

The Ranch of Mindy, an American friend who lives in a completely isolated part of Texas, an ideal place to take refuge. He had spent a lot of time there in the early 90s, already with Michel Rétif… They had settled there for a few months. 

How can you disappear like that ?

it happens every day, people who disappear and who can't be found. People who cut ties. They stay in one place, they work undeclared. Rebuilding your life is easier than you think.

You invent this parallel story, your trial, for a lighter and more jubilant story ?

That's what I did with Fakir, a light book on a serious subject, illegal immigration and the death of illegal immigrants during their journey. Humor and derision for me are the strongest attack. I always write with sometimes even self-deprecation. It's astonishing to do it on something so dramatic, it's intriguing.

This book was a way to exorcise your obsession with the affair, to kill Ligonnès ?

No doubt. At the end, which we won't reveal, there is a big surprise which allows us to conclude the affair in a rather fanciful way. It was the first time that I dealt with a real subject, my first novel investigates a bit in the style of Philippe Jaenada, Emmanuel Carrère or even Michel Houellebecq. It was a perilous exercise but I enjoyed it a lot. I didn't want to stay stuck in the box of the Fakir and absurd books. At Albin Michel I can experience other things.

How I found Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. Editions Albin Michel. 280 pages. 19.90 €

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