Book description
What has happened to Jacques Gaillard? The brilliant teacher who
trained some of France's best and brightest at the Ecole Nationale
d'Administration as future Prime Ministers and Presidents vanished ten
years ago, presumably from Paris. Talk about your cold case. The mystery
inspires a bet, one that Enzo Macleod, a biologist teaching in Toulouse
instead of pursuing a brilliant career in forensics back home in
Scotland can ill afford to lose. The wager is that Enzo can find out
what happened to Jacques Gaillard by applying new science to an old
case. Enzo comes to Paris to meet journalist Roger Raffin, the author of
a book on seven celebrated unsolved murders, the assumption being that
Gaillard is dead. He needs Raffin's notes. And armed with these, he
begins his quest. It quickly has him touring landmarks such as the Paris
catacombs and a chateau in Champagne, digging up relics and bones. Yes,
Enzo finds Jacques Gaillard's head. The artifacts buried with the skull
set him to interpreting the clues they provide and to following in
someone's footsteps-maybe more than one someone-after the rest of
Gaillard. And to reviewing some ancient and recent history. As with a
quest, it's as much discovery as detection. Enzo proves to be an ace
investigator, scientific and intuitive, and, for all his missteps, one
who hits his goals including a painful journey toward greater
self-awareness. In the first breezy installment of a projected new
series from Scottish author May (The Firemaker ), Enzo Macleod, a
Scottish forensic biologist who lives in France, bets that he can solve
an old case with new science. Lonely and bored with his teaching career,
the widowed biologist takes on the unsolved case of Jacques Gaillard, a
public intellectual with a controversial political career who
disappeared without a trace 10 years earlier. With the help of his
adored daughter, Sophie, and new flame, Charlotte, a beautiful
psychologist trained in criminal profiling, Enzo traverses France and
Germany to follow a series of clues that lead to scattered body parts
and Gaillard's dangerous killers. Despite some unlikely coincidences,
this travelogue-cum-murder mystery makes for a fun puzzle. Peter May
won the Scottish Young Journalist of the Year Award at the age of 21,
and had his first novel published at 26. He then left journalism and
became one of Scotland's most successful and prolific television
dramatists. Returning now to novels, his outstanding China Thrillers
series of books are winning critical acclaim. To research the series,
Peter May makes annual trips to China. As a mark of their respect for
his work, The Chinese Crime Writers' Association made him an honorary
member of their Beijing Chapter. He is the only Westerner to receive
such an honour. Peter May is married to writer Janice Hally and lives in
France.
