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** Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month **

The exhilarating new Inspector Adamsberg novel from France’s multi-million-copy bestselling crime fiction star

**A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**

‘Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives… I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain’ ANN CLEEVES

After three elderly men are bitten by spiders, everyone assumes that their deaths are tragic accidents.

But at police headquarters in Paris, Inspector Adamsberg begins to suspect that the case is far more complex than first appears.

It isn’t long before Adamsberg is investigating a series of rumours and allegations that take him to the south of France. Decades ago, at La Misericorde orphanage, shocking events took place involving the same species of spider: the recluse.

For Adamsberg, these haunting crimes hold the key to proving that the three men were targeted by an ingenious serial killer. His team, however, is not convinced. He must put his reputation on the line to trace the murderer before the death toll rises…
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PRAISE FOR THIS POISON WILL REMAIN:

‘Absorbing… Full of twists and spiced with Vargas’s characteristic wit and style’ PETER ROBINSON

‘Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world’ INDEPENDENT

‘Vargas’s books are…cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries’ A.J. FINN

Publisher Review

Vargas has as loving and sharp an eye for provincial French eccentrics as Simenon... Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world * Independent * Fred Vargas's books are murder mysteries, yes - cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries - but so much else besides: delicate comedies, engrossing tours of French geography and history, fascinating excursions into folklore and myth -- A.J. FINN, author of The Woman in the Window In This Poison Will Remain, Fred Vargas has delivered an absorbing plot full of twists and spiced with her characteristic wit and style. Adamsberg is a terrific creation and his team of misfits a joy to watch in action -- PETER ROBINSON, author of the DCI Banks series I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain, real vintage Vargas: playful, thought-provoking, a total delight. And beautifully translated. Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives -- ANN CLEEVES, author of the Shetland series Thrilling... Breathtakingly original... A wildly inventive plot that puts Vargas's real-life expertise (she is an archaeologist) to brilliant use * Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month *