A new hero joins the ranks of classic detectives from history and fiction alike: Vidocq, Monsieur Lecoq, Nicolas le Floch...

Autumn, 1830. Emotions are running high in Paris, a city still reeling from the shock of revolutionary days in July, when a series of strange deaths threatens to destabilize the regime.
Young police inspector Valentin Verne finds himself transferred to the Crime Prevention Brigade to solve these crimes.
But who, really, is this inspector? A man fascinated by science and obsessed with hunting down a child killer nicknamed the Vicar. Why? Who is the hunter here, and who the prey?
From Paris’s seediest underbelly to the salons of high society, from Vidocq’s spies to Messmer’s breathtaking discoveries, Éric Fouassier lures readers into an intrigue sure to prove addictive.