On the outskirts of Paris, two men have been found with their throats cut. In Normandy, two stags have been killed and their hearts cut out. Meanwhile a seventy-five-year-old nurse who has murdered several of her patients has escaped from prison. Is there a connection between the three cases?In this mystery, Commissaire Adamsberg is pitted against nemeses past and present: Ariane Lagarde, France's foremost pathologist and Adamsberg's enemy since they argued over a case twenty-three years earlier, and Louis Veyrenc, a new recruit with a grudge, who has been assigned the job of protecting the Commissaire's ex-girlfriend. As the different strands of Vargas's compelling story begin to intertwine, events move towards a gripping climax...Shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie International Dagger.

'The fascination of Fred Vargas's books is due as much to her characters as her plots... Just sit back and enjoy' Sunday Telegraph

'Fred Vargas is rapidly asserting herself as one of the most impressive working crime writers' Metro

On the outskirts of Paris, two men are discovered with their throats cut. In Normandy, two stags have been killed and their hearts cut out. Meanwhile, a seventy-five-year nurse who had murdered several of her patients has escaped from prison. Is there a connection between the three cases?

In his latest mystery, Commissaire Adamsberg is pitted against nemeses past and present: Ariana Lagarde, France's foremost pathologist and Adamsberg's enemy since they argued over a case twenty-three years earlier, and Louis Veyrenc, a new recruit with a grudge, who has been assigned the job of protecting the Commissaire's ex-girlfriend. As the different strands of Vargas's compelling story begin to intertwine, events move towards a gripping climax...

'Stylish prose and strong characters' Financial Times

'Vargas expertly braids several convoluted plotlines and binds them with humanity and humour' Saga