Crime novelist Bernard Minier researches Monaco thriller

Bernard Minier, one of France's most widely read crime novelists, spent time in Monaco this week on a research visit ahead of a new book set partly in the Principality. The trip was organised by Eric Arella, director of the Sûreté publique and president of the jury for the Prix de l'Évêché, Monaco's crime fiction prize, who wanted the author to see the territory firsthand before putting it on the page.

Minier, known for building his plots around precise, verifiable detail, was blunt about why the visit mattered to him. If a setting lacks realism, he said, the whole story falls apart in his hands. For a writer whose reputation rests on procedural accuracy, walking the streets, docks and back offices of Monaco's security services offers material no amount of secondary research could replace.

For Monaco, the visit adds another layer to the Principality's growing profile in crime fiction, a genre the Prix de l'Évêché has worked to cultivate locally. Residents can expect the Monaco that eventually appears in Minier's next novel to be grounded in something closer to the real workings of the place, rather than the postcard version often used as a backdrop by visiting authors.