Title Details

Well-kept secrets, stubborn hatreds, the settling of accounts and jealousies, all the filthy mess that has accumulated over the years seems to want to rise to the surface.

The Work
Nicolas Beaucel, a city policeman, thought he would find peace and a quiet job in a rural area in the west of France, to escape his past. But strange things happen: red-haired animals disappear, a sleepwalker wakes up in unlikely places and witnesses worrying events, the water treatment station is regularly clogged up... Then things get out of hand: two teenagers in love,
Victor and Chloé, are assaulted in an abandoned building and Léo, their friend, is discovered dead the next day in the same place. Victor soon becomes the main suspect in this violent death.
Are these events linked? Is the old man, accused by his neighbours of having abducted their animals, involved?
What is hiding Hervé, the owner of the water treatment station, who looks terrified? Nicolas will have to familiarise himself with the history of the village and its secrets in order to be able to sort out this case.
Well-kept secrets, tenacious hatreds, settling of scores, resentments and jealousies, all the crap accumulated over the years seems to want to resurface.
And it doesn’t smell good. Not good at all...

Key Sales Points
- Winner of the “Mots de l’Ouest” award in 2020 in the “Thriller” category.
- A multi-awarded author recognized by critics.
- A rural crime novel whose main character is a modest local police officer, struggling with inner demons he thought he had left behind him.
- A dark, gloomy, odorous and terribly human novel where cowardice, remorse and regret intersect, as they do in life.