The next in the thrilling new crime series from The Times-bestselling author of Death and Croissants

A decapitated body washes up on the banks of the River Loire in the ancient city of Tours. A reluctant Lombard is brought in to lead the investigation, with the victim - friendless and unclaimed - revealing uncomfortable truths about Lombard's own life.

When Lombard’s young niece appears, he is drawn into another world of eco-terrorism, bio-medical research, French aristocracy and the violent, forgotten underbelly of society.

Can the brutal murder of a lonely man be part of a plan to save the planet? Or are good intentions hiding darker motives, more cynical and more deadly?