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...

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.

An unidentified, faceless corpse is discovered near a memorial dedicated to villagers killed by the Nazis. Pel is on the case searching for a way to name the faceless corpse. The trail leads him from Burgundy to the frontiers of France, aided by a canny Sergeant Darcy and the shy, resourceful Sergeant Nosjean. Follow the irascible, quirky Chief Inspector on the road to solving the mystery of the faceless corpse.

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 francs 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 together and Chief Inspector Pel is faced with the challenge of a lifetime, to which he responds with true Gallic guile.

Violence, the mugging of gay men, and the disappearance of a wealthy local business man trouble Chief Inspector Pel, who is baited by superiors in Paris clamouring for more teamwork, technology, and sociologists. What remains is a harrowing question – has the business man been kidnapped or murdered? His family don’t seem to mind. Only Archer, his favourite staghound, is anxious for his missing master.

Inspector Pel’s home life is far from peaceful, thanks to his housekeeper’s addiction to watching television at full volume in all her waking hours – and with the Tour de France about to begin, things are not set to improve any time soon. Pel’s work life is just as stressful, as a series of thefts of priceless treasures from churches and chateaux has landed on his desk.Matters take a darker turn when a suspicious death is confirmed as murder, and it becomes even more vital for Pel ...

A double shooting of two ageing crooks leads Chief Inspector Pel following the trail all the way to Mexico. Pel and his detectives know how, when and by whom they were murdered; but they must discover why.Away from his beloved Burgundy, Pel is given a quick course in the history of the French intervention in Mexico during the 1860s. A brief spell among the Pueblos, and a shoot-out under a moonless sky eventually bring him his reward.Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constan...

When five murders disturb his sleepy Burgundian city on Bastille night, Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel has his work cut out for him. A terrorist group is at work and with the President due to make an official visit in a few weeks’ time, the pressure is on to uncover them and stop them in their tracks.Meanwhile, Pel continues his courtship of the delightful Madame Faivre-Perret, and hopes one day to escape the tyranny of his TV-addicted landlady – but none of this distra...

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...

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...

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 ...

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.