Synopses & Reviews
An atmospheric thriller set, like all Magnan's work, in Provence, and featuring his engaging detective, Commissaire Laviolette. Tautly plotted and brimming with suspense, Magnans fifth novel to be translated into English is a story of dark vengeance and avarice, linking the peasant community of Upper Provence to nineteenth-century South Africa.
Synopsis
In a sleepy Provencal village, retired postman Emile Pencenat is busy digging his own grave when he spots an unstamped letter in the cemetery's disused postbox, addressed to a Madamoiselle Champourcieux. He dutifully posts the letter. When the body of this same Madamoiselle is later discovered - pinned to her piano with an ancient bayonet - Commissaire Laviolette is coaxed out of retirement to solve one of the most bizarre crimes imaginable.