Description

‘People will die,’ says the panic-stricken woman outside police headquarters.

She refuses to speak to anyone besides Commissaire Adamsberg. Her daughter has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. Since the middle ages there have been stories of murderers, rapists, those with serious crimes on their conscience, meeting a grisly end following a visitation by the riders.

Soon after the young woman’s vision a notoriously vicious and cruel man disappears. Although the case is far outside his jurisdiction, Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds.

Publisher Review

A glorious mix of myth, quirky observation and gallic humour * Sunday Telegraph * An early contender for outstanding crime novel of the year * Sunday Times * Vargas depicts brilliantly a rural community riven with superstition, where class distinctions have existed for centuries * The Times * After decades in which crime fiction in French was dominated by the Belgian author Georges Simenon, it has an indisputable new star in Fred Vargas -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times * This latest outing for the offbeat Commissaire Adamsberg is [Vargas'] best * Independent *