I have not been exposed to a.lot of Claude Chabrol films, but the ones I have seen are very good. He was considered a master of mystery, and this is the last film he did before his death in 2010.
It stars Gérard Depardieu, and I have more than a few of his performances (La Vie en Rose, Paris, Je T'Aime, Mesrine: Killer Instinct). What I really like about Depardieu's role in the film is that he, and the film, are what I would call normal. We see life as it really exists, without gimmicks and special effects. It's a plain whodunit, with a plain detective. Marie Bunel, as his wife, adds immensely to this picture of normalcy.
The crime is only incidental in the film. It is really about relationships - The inspector (Depardieu) and his wife, the inspector and his bum of a brother, two mistresses who are not the mistresses of the people who think they are - forget the crime and focus on the people.
