October 1761An unusual death during a society evening at the Opera reveals something sinister at the heart of the French court . . .Newly-promoted Commissioner Le Floch on duty at a Royal performance of Rameau’s latest work. Events take a dramatic turn and Nicolas is soon embarked on his second major investigation when the body of a prominent courtier’s son is found.The initial evidence points to suicide, but Le Floch’s instincts tell him he is dealing with murder of the most gruesome kind.
Reads like a cross between a Maigret mystery and Les Liaisons Dangereuses,Parot’s evocation of eighteenth-century Paris is richly imagined,The atmosphere is marvellous, the historical detail precise, and Le Floch and his colleagues are an engaging bunch,Has all the twists, turns and surprises the genre demands,Brilliantly evokes the casual brutality of life in eighteenth-century France,Fascinating