The severely battered body of a murder victim turns up in provincial France and the sharp-tongued Chief Inspector Pel must use all his Gallic guile to understand the pile of clues building up around him, until a further murder and one small boy make the elusive truth all too apparent.

Deep in the Burgundy countryside, a murder case is perplexing Inspector Pel. The body was found in the salon, an elegant room with a grand piano and a Louis XIV escritoire. The shutters were still closed and the dead end of a record of Rigoletto was still turning.There are some obvious suspects, yet the clothes of none of them show any signs of blood. And what were the tensions that must have torn at this family? It’s only when a second murder takes place that the method o...

Irritable, dyspeptic Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel did not need another murder case added to his already Herculean workload, especially not this ghoulish business of a mutilated, headless corpse, the anonymous victim of a desperate and determined killer. Yet, if the murder was so deliberate, so well-planned, why was the identity of the dead man obscured?Pel’s investigation moves from Burgundy to the frontier and back again, stirring echoes of the horror and trauma of the War...

The irascible Inspector Pel has failed to give up smoking. A Gauloise magically calms his nerves, in spite of his efforts, and good nerves are just what he needs when a student’s mysterious death and the discovery of a corpse in the boot of a car start to uncover a fledgling drug ring.What is worse, the ring is operating within the university of his own Burgundian city. More murders follow and the trail leads Pel to Innsbruck, where the soignée mistress of a professor turns out to ...

Chief Inspector Pel is taking a well-deserved break from detective work, and setting off for his honeymoon with his new wife, Geneviève. Surely there’s nothing more relaxing than an island getaway, and a bout of ferocious seasickness on the ferry journey there is a small price to pay.But the newlyweds’ holiday plans are disrupted when a local taxi driver is murdered on their first night. More puzzling is his attempt to reach Pel before the brutal killing and his message is one of m...

In his beloved Burgundy, Chief Inspector Pel finds himself incensed by interference from Paris, but it isn’t the descent of rival policemen that makes Pel’s blood boil – crimes are being committed by violent gangs from Paris and Marseilles.On top of all this, it’s down to Pel to unravel the riddles of a robbery on the road to Dijon airport and mysterious shootings in an iron foundry. And as if that wasn’t enough, the Chief Inspector must deal with the misadventures of the delightfu...

Fires have been breaking out all over Chief Inspector Pel’s beloved province of Burgundy, from small houses to woodland. Then a local farmer’s flock of sheep is poisoned, a tray of valuable rings stolen from a local jewellers, and the body of a woman is found.Inspector Pel has his work cut out for him in this exhilarating murder mystery.Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly about his health, Inspector Pel ensures that no case goes unsolved, in these mordantly...

A masked gang rob a supermarket at Talant, a home-made bomb is found at the local airport, and the body of an old man is found on the motorway near Mailly-les-Temps...Plus what is the connection between a fearful lawyer and the fatal stabbing of a Scottish tourist? On top of which, Daniel Darcy, trusted deputy to Chief Inspector Pel, has been suspended on suspicion of taking bribes. Pel really has his hands full this time.Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly...

A dead man is found floating in a canal, his wallet revealing a strange symbolic drawing; and a hostage drama unfolds at the Banque Credit Rural, where not only millions in currency and jewellery are at stake but also lives. On the other side of town, a stunning art student switches masterpieces for copies.Somehow, the crimes fit like pieces of a jigsaw. Chief Inspector Pel is faced with a challenge of a lifetime – and responds with true Gallic guile.Moody, sharp-to...

When five murders disturb his sleepy Burgundian city on Bastille night, Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Desiré Pel has his work cut out for him. A terrorist group is at work and the President is due shortly on a State visit. Pel’s problems with his tyrannical landlady must be put aside whilst he catches the criminals.

As Chief Inspector Pel honeymoons with his long-time love Mme Genevieve Faivre-Perret in St Ives, a local taxi driver is murdered on their first night. More puzzling is his attempts to reach Pel before the brutal killing and the fact his message is one of murder, arson, and smuggling. But, can Pel break the silence surrounding the Islanders, and catch the killer?

Life is going well for the usually irascible Chief Inspector Pel: he is basking in the warm glow of married life, and his bullying housekeeper Madame Routy is no longer tormenting him with deafening television shows and terrible cooking.But police work never stops, and Pel soon finds himself investigating the deaths of a series of young women, who have been strangled and left with macabre messages next to them. Pel’s investigations lead him to the city’s student community, and into...