“I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles”, goes the old song. Certainly, the August heat is a trial for Chief Inspector Serge Morel as he tries to solve a puzzling and brutal series of murders. Not only is Morel finding the temperature a hindrance, but he has his father’s descent into senility, his own affair with a colleague’s wife, and the reappearance of an old flame to contend with.

Morel’s investigations take him away from the capital and deep into a troubled and perplexing past. This novel may well take its place among the classics of French crime fiction as lost opportunities, cruel twists of fate, and a brilliantly realised new police character make this a cut above the usual police procedural. Find out more in our full review.