Mark Hebden Knihy

The story follows Chief Inspector Pel as he navigates the unexpected complications arising from a seemingly harmless invitation to the home of influential Deputy Claude Barclay. As the evening unfolds, Pel finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue and moral dilemmas that challenge his professional integrity and personal values. The narrative delves into themes of power dynamics and the consequences of choices made in the social sphere of law enforcement.

Set in the picturesque province of Burgundy, the story unfolds as Chief Inspector Pel investigates a series of alarming incidents, including widespread fires, the poisoning of a farmer's sheep, and the theft of valuable jewelry. The situation escalates with the discovery of a woman's body, intertwining mystery and danger in a landscape he cherishes. Each event deepens the intrigue, challenging Pel to uncover the truth behind the chaos threatening his community.

In his beloved Burgundy, Chief Inspector Pel finds himself incensed by interference from Paris, but it isn't the descent of rival policemen that makes Pel's blood boil - crimes are being committed by violent gangs from Paris and Marseilles.

Inspector Evariste Clovis Desire Pel did not need another murder case added to his already Herculean workload, especially not this ghoulish business of a mutilated, headless corpse, the anonymous victim of a desperate and determined killer. Yet, if the murder was so deliberate, so well-planned, why was the identity of the dead man obscured?

Chief Inspector Pel's honeymoon with his new wife Genevieve is disrupted when a local taxi driver is murdered on their first night. More puzzling is his attempt to reach Pel before the brutal killing and his message is one of murder, arson and smuggling. Can Pel break the silence surrounding the Islanders, and catch the killer?

When five murders disturb his sleepy Burgundian city on Bastille night, Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Desire Pel has his work cut out for him. A terrorist group is at work and with the President due to make an official visit in a few weeks' time, the pressure is on to uncover them and stop them in their tracks.

Pel's personal life is going far from smoothly, as he discovers himself to be the target of a letter-bomb sent by an old enemy - aside from the obvious danger, this is yet another obstacle to his plans to marry Madame Faivre- Perret. Can Pel keep his life, his love and his career by solving the murder mysteries?

An extravagant, big time gangland criminal is ambushed and assassinated; the only witness a ten-year-old-boy. Chief Inspector Pel is called in to investigate the killing, which spirals into an international investigation when a respected spinster is bludgeoned to death and some curious links begin to clink into place.

The irascible Chief Inspector Pel basks in the warm glow of his marriage until a series of young women are found strangled, with macabre messages left next to them. Pel breaks his idyllic life in honeymoon heaven and begins an investigation among a student community. What ensues is a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Violence, the mugging of gay men, and the disappearance of a wealthy business man trouble Chief Inspector Pel, who is baited by superiors clamouring for more teamwork, technology, and sociologists. Has the business man been kidnapped or murdered? His family don't seem to mind. Only Archer, his favourite staghound, seems anxious.