Chief Inspector Pel has been kidnapped. Or is he being held for ransom, traded for the release of prisoners, or has he perhaps been murdered? He is, in any event, missing. To make matters worse, the press report the escape of the notorious Poltergeist from a high-security prison.

Just when things can’t get more desperate, a fantastic robbery from the gunroom of Baron de Charnet’s chateau takes place and a collection of diamonds is stolen from a high-street jeweller’s safe.

Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly about his health, Inspector Pel normally ensures that no case goes unsolved, in these mordantly witty French mysteries.

‘Impeccable French ambience, unexaggerated flics, and a well-constructed solution. Hebden proves again that few understand Gallic cops better than English writers!’ The Times

‘Pel and his procedurals are some of the best things since Maigret’ Observer

‘Totally convincing’ Financial Times

‘Mr Hebden has created a nice band of flics’ Oxford Times

‘Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel, as well rounded a character as Maigret or Van der Valk’ Punch

‘Some characters grow as their saga lengthens and Pel… is one of them. You might say he is ripening along with the grapes’ Police Review

‘…written with downbeat humour and some delightful dialogue’ Financial Times

‘…all is most cunningly contrived and dovetailed into a coherent plot’ Irish Times

‘A thoroughly entertaining read’ Evening Standard

‘The best Gallic sleuth since Maigret’ London Mystery Selection

After the death of her father, Mark Hebden, creator of the quirky French detective Inspector Pel novels, Juliet Hebden took over the mantle of crime writer and has completed 8 more books in the series. In addition to writing, Juliet is a mother of six children and lives in France.