Peter Morfoot est l'auteur du roman satirique acclamé Burksey, et a écrit de nombreuses pièces de théâtre et émissions de sketches pour la radio et la télévision de la BBC. Pendant trente ans, il a exploré la vie, l'art et les tables des restaurants de la Côte d'Azur, qui sert de décor à sa série de romans policiers mettant en scène le capitaine Paul Darac de la Brigade Criminelle de Nice. Son écriture se distingue par une observation aiguë et un sens de l'humour unique.
It is carnival time in Nice, and for three weeks the boulevards are alive with dancers, jugglers and musicians. Amid the colour and pageantry, a man suffers a fatal fall - the first in a series of suspicious deaths. Captain Paul Darac of the Brigade Criminelle is sure the answer lies in the mystery surrounding a daring bank heist, supposedly resolved years ago. But the reopening of the case awakens powerful enemies, and soon the safety of his friends, his colleagues and his family is at stake.
Captain Paul Darac of the Brigade Criminelle arrives at a crime scene to find a woman's mutilated corpse. Initially routine, the case deepens and darkens into a complex enquiry that threatens to close in on Darac himself. But allegiances past and present must be set aside to unravel a tale of greed, deception and treachery that spans the social spectrum. It is among the winding streets of his own neighbourhood in Nice's old town, the Babazouk, that Darac faces his severest test yet.
In the heat of a French summer, Captain Paul Darac of the Nice Brigade Criminelle is called to a highly sensitive crime scene. A man has been murdered in the midst of a prayer group, but no one saw how it was done. And the more Darac and his team learn about the victim, the longer their list of suspects grows. Darac's hunt for the murderer will uncover vengeance years in the making, and put the life of one of his own at risk...
"All summer, Captain Paul Darac of Nice's Brigade Criminelle has been in a happy place with the woman he loves, the jazz group in which he plays, and the police team he leads. But as the Brigade is called to the murder of an elderly man at nearby Saint-Laurent station, things begin to change and two of these relationships look set to fail. At the scene, the victim is identified as ex-comedy star Ambroise Paillaud, born locally and recently retired to the village in which, Darac learns, the actor spent a troubled childhood. Odder still, he bequeaths his vast fortune to the village in his will. As Darac's personal travails continue, he begins to untie a knot of corruption, chicanery, blackmail and murder in which he himself becomes a target."--Provided by publisher.
A go-to destination for students of the finer things in life, the Villa des Pinales is set high in the foothills above Nice. As groups check-in for three-day courses on wine tasting, perfume making and landscape painting, they are joined by their tutors, one of whom proves to be forensic sketch artist Astrid Pireque. Down in the city, the remaining members of Darac’s team are experiencing a lull in new cases they know won’t last. But none is prepared for what lay ahead...The Essence of Murder , the latest thriller in the Captain Darac series sees Peter Morfoot’s writing skills at their very best.