No Sanctuary

by Graeme Chambers

Following the tragic death of his wife, Max Dempsey and his young son, Luke, seek a summer escape among the amazing sights, smells and cuisine of Provence, with memories of happier times. He enrolls Luke in a leading soccer camp for a fresh start but struggles to shake off his own devastating loss. They are just beginning to pick up the pieces of a new life when Max's search for peace is derailed by the brutal stabbing of rich French property investor, Madame Borrell, in an adjacent apartment. It soon becomes clear that his fellow residents of the Old Gendarmerie can alibi each other. But how and why did an outsider enter her apartment in the early morning hours without a key and without leaving a trace? It becomes apparent that Madame Borrell is not who she pretends to be, and many people had good reason to want her dead. Max is required to use the observation and deductive skills he honed as a top lawyer to help his old friend, investigating magistrate Claire Lejeune, but her romantic meddling and his own investigative conclusions may eventually lead him to a place he does not want to go.