In this particularly droll and satisfying French murder mystery set in an unusually, almost hilariously cold and snowy corner of France, a local starlet famous for her cheese ads (Sophie Quinton) turns up dead. This piques the interest of a crime novelist (Jean-Paul Rouve) who happens to be in the area. Her intense identification with Marilyn Monroe intrigues him even more. Writer-director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu sustains a fresh voice influenced by the Coen brothers and the infernal snow of Fargo. A-

