“Stylish . . . Magnan blends elegant clue laying and deft characterizations that strike to the core of human frailties, all within a detective tale with a theme as old as Cain and Abel, as new as tomorrow's headlines and as eternal as the Greek myths that inspire Magnan's fiction.”---Publishers Weekly (starred review), Best Mysteries of 2008Last year Death in the Truffle Wood introduced renowned French crime writer Pierre Magnan to rave American reviews. Now the celebrated Commissaire Laviolette is back in a second delectable mystery set in Provence.Emile Pencenat is in a cemetery, designing his own ornate tomb. In a disused postbox by the gate he discovers an envelope addressed to a Mlle Veronique Champourcieux. He is puzzled, but being a former postman, he dutifully purchases a stamp and posts the letter.
