Death in the South of France

by Jane Jakeman

Overview

Cloudless skies, blue sea and a horrifying discovery - the most glamorous boulevard on the French Riviera is about to become the backdrop to a disturbing murder enquiry. When another in a series of mutilated bodies is found on the seafront, the new magistrate, Cecile Galant, finds herself in charge of an investigation that is not all that it seems. At the same time, at his flat in London, Charlie Cashel receives a mysterious package that galvanizes him into action - a roll of undeveloped film, postmarked "Cannes". Charlie's half-sister, Rosie, was murdered there and her killer never found. When the film is developed it shows only one photograph: a painting of a cemetery in the south of France. To get to the heart of the mystery, the hot, thyme-scented countryside of Provence must be explored as lives and events intertwine with horrific and disturbing consequences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780749005559
Publisher:	International Publishers Marketing
Publication date:	09/12/2002
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

JANE JAKEMAN is an author, freelance journalist and qualified art historian. She has travelled widely and now lives in Oxford, England.

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

Cannes is a city of "dreams and sleaze" and, it turns out, brutal serial murders, in Jane Jakeman's (Let There Be Blood) Death in the South of France. Charlie Cashel is called away from his tumultuous life in England to identify his sister's body as Cecil Galant, the new city magistrate, leads the disturbing investigation. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The murder of Charlie Cashel's 19-year-old half-sister in Cannes, France, may not be connected to four serial murders, but the fact that she's a foreigner could adversely affect the tourist trade. The economic and therefore political ramifications of the case test the skills of Chief Inspector Maubourg and new examining magistrate Cecile, both already threatened by the local crime syndicate leader. When Charlie, in London, receivesanonymouslya roll of film from Cannes, the resultant clue focuses attention on a Provenial cemetery. Relatively low-key action and well-delineated settings: for larger collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

As the fashionable Riviera city of Cannes prepares for its annual film festival, newly appointed examining magistrate Cecile Galant is struggling with a series of brutal killings by an unknown assassin named The Mutilator-and an apparently stand-alone murder, the strangling of Rosie Cashel, a young Englishwoman living in the Villa Bleue. Except for her frequent companion Dr. Robin Durrant, most of Rosie's nearest and dearest are far off. Her mother Anna, who owns the villa, is in an Australian nursing home, and her half-brother Charlie and her cousin Martin Hollingsworth, a lawyer in charge of Anna's legal interests, are back in London. When the two men fly to Cannes to bring Rosie's body back to London for burial, they're interviewed by Chief Inspector Maubourg, but not until they've returned to London does Magistrate Galant release the body. Three months later, Charlie receives a roll of film sent anonymously from Cannes. The only clear exposure, which looks like a painting of an old cemetery, sends Charlie back to Cannes, where Galant is exploring the possible guilt of a local mobster named White Boy in the still-unsolved murders-and the more recent death of Dr. Durrant. Meanwhile, Charlie has paid a visit to the house of Rosie's recently deceased neighbor, old Monsieur Artheus. There, he meets Susanna Washington and, with her, endures a series of life-threatening events before all his questions, and Galant's, are answered. Crisp, vividly evocative prose, interesting people, arresting plot, and unusual background: a fresh, absorbing debut.

Kirkus Reviews