An elegant and arresting tale of patriotism, passion and murder, unfolding on the French Riviera, from the bestselling author of The Savage Garden. Le Rayol, France, July 1935: On the poor man`s end of the Riviera, where white-sand coves are strung out along the rocky coastline like pearls on a necklace, former British intelligence operative Tom Wyndham lives out his early retirement. A rag-tag community of authors, artists and exiles from all over Europe gather here for the summer months. On the surface, their dinners and beach parties may seem a world away from a continent gearing up for war, but it is 1935, a time of suspicion and mutual mistrust. And with good reason too, as Tom learns first-hand when his sun-kissed summer idyll is shattered as someone tries to murder him in his sleep. His past life as an intelligence operative has come back to haunt him, that much he knows. But his investigation also reveals that several of the residents in the village are not who they claim to be. Tom must keep up the pretence of normality as he draws his enemy out. So many years on, suddenly consumed by suspicion, Tom tries to resist becoming the man he left behind - the monster he once was!