“One of the subtlest and wittiest practitioners of the simon-pure British detective story.” The New York TimesWhen Samuel Cheever, a shady dealer, goes to France to buy antiques and never returns, people in his home-town of Francaster begin to ask “What’s happened to Cheever?” And when the local M.P. asks a similar question in the House, it is thought to be time to send Superintendent Littlejohn to France to make enquiries. Cheever’s bones are discovered in the Camargue, the wilderness around the Rhône delta, and Littlejohn again finds himself, with Sergeant Cromwell for company, among his friends of the Mediterranean police. They work amicably together, as usual, but the trail of Cheever leads to many strange places and the Superintendent does a lot of travelling and meets many queer and colourful characters before the case is solved. The charming people, the sunshine, the wine and food of the sweet land of France are all here and, of course, there is Cromwell, too, enthusiastic and modest as ever, trying out his French for the first time and meeting with mixed results.