The Devil's cave : an investigation by Bruno, chief of police

"It is springtime in idyllic St Denis, a time of beauty and calm. But not for Bruno, Chief of Police: a woman's body has been found on a boat, bearing signs of a black magic ritual. Bruno has much on his plate--a domestic abuse case that needs careful handling and a dodgy local development proposal that seems too good to be true. But a murder case must take precedence, and the roots of this one lie buried deep in the past, leading Bruno to a chateau above a bend in the river to the reclusive old woman who lives there and the secret hidden in the Devil's Cave."--Back cover When a dead woman is found floating in the river, Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges is on the case. The discovery of sinister markings and black candles near the body leads him to question whether there was something occult involved in the woman's death. At the same time, Bruno is dealing with a troubling real estate proposal in the region, a suspicious death made to look accidental, and the return of a politically controversial elderly countess, with everything leading to a climatic showdown at the place the locals call the Devil's Cave Bruno, Chief of Police, comes face to face with black-magic and an infamous royal mistress. It's two weeks before Easter, and satanism has reared its ugly head in St-Denis. A female body bearing the ghastly signs of a black-magic ritual has been found on a boat. The search for her identity leads to a local elderly aristocrat known as the Red Countess, herself a descendent of the bewitching Madame de Montespan, a mistress of Louis XVI and a notorious figure in French history. This is the last thing Bruno needs A body seen drifting down the river signals the start of a compelling new case for Bruno Courreges, Chief of Police.