The Saint-Florentin Murders: Nicolas Le Floch Investigation #5. Jean-Francois Parot

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      Praise for Jean-François Parot

      ‘The period detail is marvellously evocative, Le Floch is brave and engaging …’ Economist

      ‘Parot succeeds brilliantly in his reconstruction of pre-revolutionary Paris, in splendid period detail.’ The Times

      ‘A solid and detailed evocation of pre-revolutionary France – the poverty and squalor, side by side with the wealth and splendour, are brought lovingly to life. And the plot has all the twists, turns and surprises the genre demands.’ Independent on Sunday

      ‘Jean-François Parot’s evocation of eighteenth-century Paris is richly imagined and full of fascinating historical snippets.’ Financial Times

      ‘Parot’s clever plotting and sharp eye for detail are, as ever, first rate …’ Mail on Sunday

      ‘… Le Floch is an engaging conduit for the reader through the teeming, phantasmagoric capital that is eighteenth-century Paris.’ Independent

      ‘The atmosphere is marvellous, the historical detail precise, and Le Floch and his colleagues are an engaging bunch …’ Guardian

      ‘An interesting evocation of place and period.’ The Literary Review

      THE

       SAINT-FLORENTIN

       MURDERS

      JEAN-FRANÇOIS PAROT

      Translated from the French by Howard Curtis

      Ouvrage publié avec le concours du Ministère français chargé de la Culture – Centre National du Livre.

      This work is published with support from the French Ministry of Culture/Centre National du Livre.

      For Arlette and Richard Benais

      CONTENTS

      Title Page

      Epigraph

      Dedication

      Background to The Saint-Florentin Murders

      Dramatis Personae

       I Prologue

      I The Passing of the Days

      II The Saint-Florentin Mansion

      III Knot of Vipers

      IV Confusion

      V Between City and Faubourgs

      VI Diversions of the Heart

      VII This Country

      VIII Navigation

      IX Approaches

      X Bicêtre

      XI Manoeuvres

      XII Confrontations

      XIII Traps

      Epilogue

      Notes

      Acknowledgements

       The Saint-Florentin Murders

      Also by Jean-François Parot

      Copyright

       Background to The Saint-Florentin Murders

      For those readers coming to the adventures of Nicolas Le Floch for the first time, it is useful to know that in the first book in the series, The Châtelet Apprentice, the hero, a foundling raised by Canon Le Floch in Guérande, is sent away from his native Brittany by his godfather, the Marquis de Ranreuil, who is concerned about his daughter Isabelle’s growing fondness for the young man.

      On arrival in Paris he is taken in by Père Grégoire at the Monastery of the Decalced Carmelites and on the recommendation of the marquis soon finds himself in the service of Monsieur de Sartine, Lieutenant General of Police in Paris. Under his tutelage, Nicolas is quick to learn and is soon familiar with the mysterious working methods of the highest ranks of the police service. At the end of his year’s apprenticeship, he is entrusted with a confidential mission, one that will result in him rendering a signal service to Louis XV and the Marquise de Pompadour.

      Aided by his deputy and mentor, Inspector Bourdeau, and putting his own life at risk on several occasions, he successfully unravels a complicated plot. Received at court by the King, he is rewarded with the post of commissioner of police at the Châtelet and, under the direct authority of Monsieur de Sartine, continues to be assigned to special investigations.

       DRAMATIS PERSONAE

      NICOLAS LE FLOCH: a police commissioner at the Châtelet

      LOUIS LE FLOCH: his son, a schoolboy

      MONSIEUR DE SARTINE: Secretary of State for the Navy

      MONSIEUR LENOIR: Lieutenant General of Police in Paris

      MONSIEUR DE SAINT-FLORENTIN, DUC DE LA VRILLIÈRE: Minister of the King’s Household

      DUCHESSE DE LA VRILLIÈRE: his wife

      PIERRE BOURDEAU: a police inspector

      OLD MARIE: an usher at the Châtelet

      TIREPOT: a police spy

      RABOUINE: a police spy

      AIMÉ DE NOBLECOURT: a former procurator

      MARION: his cook

      POITEVIN: his servant

      CATHERINE GAUSS: a former canteen-keeper, Nicolas Le Floch’s maid

      GUILLAUME SEMACGUS: a navy surgeon

      THIERRY DE VILLE D’AVRAY: First Groom of the King’s Bedchamber

      MONSIEUR DE LA BORDE: his predecessor

      CHARLES HENRI SANSON: the public executioner

      LA SATIN: Louis Le Floch’s mother

      LA PAULET: a former brothel-keeper

      MONSIEUR DE GÉVIGLAND: a doctor

      MADAME DE CUSACQUE: the Duc de La Vrillière’s mistress

      MONSIEUR DE CHAMBONAS: her son-in-law

      MONSIEUR BOURDIER: an engineer

      MONSIEUR D’ARRANET: Lieutenant General of the Naval Forces

      AIMÉE D’ARRANET: his daughter

      MONSIEUR TESTARD DU LYS: Criminal Lieutenant of Police

      ANSELME VITRY: a gardener

      MARGUERITE PINDRON: the Duchesse de La Vrillière’s chambermaid

      JEAN MISSERY: major-domo to the Duc de La Vrillière

      EUGÉNIE GOUET: first chambermaid to the Duchesse de La Vrillière

      JEANNE LE BAS, known as Jeannette: second chambermaid to the Duchesse de La Vrillière

      CHARLES BIBARD, known as Provence: a valet

      PIERRE MIQUETE: a Swiss Guard at the La Vrillière mansion

      JACQUES BLAIN: a caretaker

      JACQUES DESPIARD: a kitchen boy

      GILLES DUCHAMPLAN: the late Madame Missery’s elder brother

      NICOLE