"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'
JACQUOT & THE MASTER
In the heat of a Provençal summer, Chief Inspector Daniel Jacquot is called to a luxury hotel on the slopes of the Grand Lubéron. One of the guests, a high class call-girl from Marseilles, is missing. Her bedroom is drenched in blood, but there is no body.
Jacquot quickly discovers that among the remaining guests there are those who have both the means and motive to be her killer, people with personal secrets, hidden agendas, and their own dangerous liaisons to protect.
When a summer storm and raging flash floods isolate the hotel, passions start to run high when not one but two bodies are found.
Reviews
"Well written and compelling. Tight plotting, lyrical descriptions, and excellent characterisation mean Jacquot is here to stay."
– The Daily Mail
"It is only a matter of time before readers will be eagerly anticipating each new trip to Daniel Jacquot's France."
– Barry Forshaw
The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction
"Jacquot is an excellent character, no doubt set for a long and entertaining career, and the scenery of corruption in the South of France is very well painted indeed."
– The Birmingham Post
"A wonderfully inventive and involving detective series with vivid French locales creating the perfect backdrop. Jacquot is top of le cops."
– The Daily Express