Notes

April 1990: French-Algerian judge Anne Marie Laveaud has been living and working in the French Caribbean département of Guadeloupe for more than a decade, but her days are still full of surprises. She is only just starting to investigate the suspicious suicide of a high-profile environmental activist and media personality when she is pulled off the case. Is it because she was getting too close to the truth?

But the new case she’s been assigned takes precedent. The body of a white female tourist has been discovered on a nudist beach, where it seems the young woman was raped and murdered. The victim’s remains offer no clues about her final hours—she was found without any of her belongings, and it seems she was dead at least three days before anyone spotted her corpse. What turned this woman’s vacation in paradise into a final nightmare?

As always, the story of a murdered white woman has attracted the attention of international media. Furthermore, the economy of Guadeloupe, so dependent on the tourist industry, could suffer a terrible hit if this case isn’t brought under control with some quick, impressive police work.