"They tear you apart... They leave no trace..."
Five years out of the Marseilles Judiciaire, Daniel Jacquot is happily retired, bringing up his two daughters on a beach in the Caribbean. But when an old friend pays an unexpected visit, retirement rapidly becomes a battle for survival...
"The girls didn't see the first shark... They didn't see the second or the third one either..."
"They tear you apart... They leave no trace..."
Five years out of the Marseilles Judiciaire, Daniel Jacquot is happily retired, bringing up his two daughters on a beach in the Caribbean. But when an old friend pays an unexpected visit, retirement rapidly becomes a battle for survival...
"The girls didn't see the first shark... They didn't see the second or the third one either..."
In 1972 a gold bullion convoy is hijacked in Marseilles. The security trucks and hijackers are swiftly rounded up, but a ton of gold has disappeared.
More than twenty years later, Daniel Jacquot receives an unexpected gift from an old fisherman. At the same time, a Marseilles lawyer called Claude Dupont receives an equally unexpected gift from a dying gangland boss.
When the Marseilles police become involved following a series of gruesome murders, the investigation is headed by Chief Inspector Isabelle Cassier. An old friend and sometime lover of Jacquot's, Isabelle discovers that the years haven't lessened her longing for the maverick Marseilles cop, and that her feelings for him are far from professional.
Together they embark on a cut-throat hunt for the gold, with hit-men from the Polineaux and Duclos clans hot on their heels. But after nearly thirty years, is the gold still there? And if it is, who will get to it first?
The Jacquot series is set in the 1990s – the years of Mitterand's and Chirac's presidencies – so there's no real emphasis on technology or advanced forensic science to crack the cases Jacquot finds himself involved in. Rather, it's bloodhound work, and he's the bloodhound – passionate, incorruptible, and often inspired.
It's also France with francs not euros, a golden age when you could smoke in a bar and Calvados didn't come with a health warning. Jacquot is not a drunk, but nor is he the kind of man who counts 'units'. What a horrible word. What a horrible concept. Jacquot would not approve.
MARTIN
BRIEN
O'
TALKING TO THE SHARKS
Five years out of the Marseilles Judiciaire Jacquot is happily retired, bringing up his two daughters on a beach in the Caribbean. But the good life is put at risk when an ex-lover tracks him down and asks him to find her missing husband.
At first Jacquot wants nothing to do with it. But in the days that follow he is given no choice but to take on the case, following the husband’s trail from the luxury estates and gaming tables of Nassau to the distant vineyards of Provence.
What he uncovers on this journey is a deadly conspiracy that threatens everything that Jacquot holds dear. No one is who they seem, nothing is how it looks, and retirement rapidly becomes a battle for survival…
Reviews
"A strikingly different detective, Jacquot walks off the page effortlessly."
– The Good Book Guide
"One of the very best books I’ve read in a long time… Utterly and brilliantly entertaining."
– Goodreads
"Magnifique! A great read, packed full of wonderful characters, danger, romance, sex, greed, excitement, and culminating in an action-packed boat chase and shoot-out which would make a stunning finish if this was ever filmed. Had me on the edge of my seat… could not put it down."
– Elaine Simpson-Long
Amazon Vine Voice – Top 500 Reviewer
"J’adore Jacquot."
– Amazon Reviewer