Death on the Marais

It is 1963; France and Inspector Lucas Rocco has been sent, from Paris, to Poissions-les-Marais, in rural France by his superiors for reasons as yet unknown to the reader, however hints are given at the beginning of each chapter.  It appears to be a part of a nation-wide shuffle of officers at all levels.  He finds himself back in time when it comes to services like running water and a telephone.

Just as he is settling in on his first day, while visiting the local cop, Claude LaMotte, a body is reported of a woman in the local British cemetery, and she is dressed in a Gestapo uniform.  Unfortunately Rocco will find that the transfers include a new commissarie, whom he knows from his wartime experience in Indochina. Will this new commisarie help or hinder his investigations? Things take a strange twist when the body is released by the pathologist almost immediately after he had received it.

The following day the pathologist provides the name of the deceased.  She is the daughter of a wealthy person in Paris.  Rocco decides to go to Paris, which is outside his jurisdiction, to investigate.  Roadblocks quickly appear, and a twist appears in the story when the local scrap dealer has his hand blown off by a grenade that may have been booby trapped with plastique.  Is the scrap dealer a target because of his history with the Resistance?  Is there a connection between him and the dead woman?  Rocco's investigation leads him down a path of treachery, across time and through differing social levels.

The sub-climax is very exciting, leading the reader on to a very interesting conclusion to this thriller.  Well written and a great read.  Kudos to the author, Adrian Magson.  I look forward to the sequel.