Gallic Books: 70 books

A widow’s quiet retirement in the foothills of the Alps is turned upside down by the arrival of a mysterious stranger. Recently widowed grandmother Éliette is returning to her home in the mountains when her micro-car breaks down. A stranger comes to her aid on foot. Éliette offers him a lift,...

• Classic French literary crime • Will appeal to fans of Georges Simenon and Pascal Garnier • Won the Prix Deux Magots 1978 • The film adaptation starring Isabelle Adjani won the César Award 1984 and is considered a cult classic • First published in English translation in 1980 by Harvill/Plume,...

‘Sticking closely to the known facts, Jean Teulé’s novelisation offers no easy explanations for what happened but the transformation from rural idyll to hell on earth is terrifyingly convincing.’ Financial Times A true story. Tuesday 16 August 1870, Alain de Monéys, makes his way to...

At the court of young King Louis XVI , conspiracies abound...Under the distrustful eye of his new boss at the Chatelet, Nicolas Le Floch investigates the bizarre death of a maid at the home of Monsieur de Saint-Florentin, the King's minister. When a second murder is washed up by the Seine with the...

‘Simply magical’ Elle The story of Venezuela told through the adventures of kindly giant, Octavio. Struggling to conceal his illiteracy, he embarks on a transformative journey that unearths his life's purpose. “His body might have been hewn from a tree trunk; his heart would last for...

The Marquis de Montespan and his new wife, Athenais, are a true love-match - a rarity amongst the nobility of seventeenth-century France. But love is not enough to maintain their hedonistic lifestyle. When Madame de Montespan is offered the chance to become lady-in-waiting to the Queen at Versailles,...

Death is Simon's business. And now the ageing vermin exterminator is preparing to die. But he still has one last job down on the coast and he needs a driver. Bernard is twenty-one. He can drive and he's never seen the sea. He can't pass up the chance to chauffeur for Simon, whatever his mother may...

In1809, the forces of Napoleon's Grande Armée are in Austria. For young Lieutenant Lukas Relmyer, it is hard to return to the place where he and fellow orphan Franz, were kidnapped four years previously. Franz was brutally murdered and Lukas has vowed to avenge his death. When the body of another...

‘Ignored, abused and underpaid, the unsung heroines of the food chain are suddenly in the spotlight thanks to French till tapper Anna Sam.’ The Sun Can you scan 800 barcodes an hour? Can you smile and say ‘thanks’ 500 times a day? Do you never need to go to the toilet? Then working at a supermarket...

From the acclaimed author of The Foundling Boy comes this new classic set in 1950s America. Arthur Morgan is aboard the Queen Mary bound for the United States, where a scholarship at an Ivy League university awaits him, along with the promise of a glittering future. But the few days spent on the ship...

Paris is in mourning. At the fireworks display marking the Dauphin's marriage to Marie Antoinette, hundreds of people have been injured or crushed to death. Yet not all the victims died accidentally...This tragic incident yields a new case for Commissioner Le Floch when a strangled woman is found...

March 1814. With the armies of Russia and Prussia advancing, Paris is in real danger of falling to occupying forces for the first time in 400 years.But at a moment when all efforts should be directed towards the defence of the city, Joseph Bonaparte is concerned with the murder of a retired colonel,...

Paris, 1774. Commissioner Le Floch's stormy love affair with socialite Julie de Lasterieux has run its course. But before Nicolas can formally end the relationship, Julie is found murdered in her bed, a victim of poisoning. For now, he retains the confidence of even the King, who sends him on a secret...

1304 The Church and the French Crown are locked in a power struggle. In the Normandy countryside, monks on a secret mission are brutally murdered and a poisoner is at large at Clairets Abbey. Young noblewoman Agn's de Souarcy fights to retain her independence but must face the Inquisition, unaware that she is the focus of an ancient quest.