The titular inspector travels to a small coastal town to investigate the puzzling death of a devout and wealthy Roman Catholic writer who is found murdered on a beach with the word pig written on his back.

[2] The film was co-written by Claude Chabrol (the writer behind Cop Au Vin) and Dominique Roulet.

[3] From Caryn James of The New York Times: In the long, healthy career of Claude Chabrol, from his New Wave classic The Cousins through his sumptuous Madame Bovary, which opened yesterday, Inspector Lavardin is a trifle.

This wily film has first-rate appeal and plays into some cherished stereotypes about the French: it is blase, stylish, filled with effortless charm... [T]here is nothing self-conscious about this cleverly sophisticated but straightforward use of the detective genre.

[4]From Fred Camper of The Chicago Reader: There are also some wonderfully characteristic images—the widow first appears behind glass, her face rendered at once more vivid and more distant, and an overhead shot of the murder scene lays out the geography while distancing us from the characters—but such moments are too few, and often Chabrol seems to be going through the motions.