A house party among Anglos near the coast in Provence. There is a fire: a handful of decadents die. Who dun it? Cui bono? One survivor, half-burnt, goes in quest for answers along the Riviera, from St Tropez to Santa Margherita Ligure and back. Encountering yachties, a wealthy designer, an actress, would-be gangsters, twin young men, an old salt and others half-reflecting his past, he moves towards a future where no motive is sure; where the hard-boiled ethics of his American father's generation are being eclipsed by older, more ambiguous instincts. A subtle homage to the most famous writer to live in the author's home town, this novel will have special fascination for anyone familiar with the last works of Raymond Chandler, not least the the affair between his hero Philip Marlowe and the glamorous heiress Linda Loring. What would have eventuated from it? 'Chip Martin is not afraid of big themes or complex structures; his work ranges widely through history and shows the mind and imagination of a true polymath, as well as an ambitious storyteller.' -- Deborah Moggach