Death on the Riviera

A counterfeit currency gang are at large on the French Riviera and the French police believe it to be an English set up. A phone call to Scotland Yard sees Detective-Inspector Meredith and Acting-Sergeant Strang pack their bags, open the windows, put the roof down and drive to the South of France hot on the tail of ‘Chalky’ Cobbett.

Bill Dillon, a young Englishman, is also heading to the Riviera and to the Villa Palomo. The villa is owned by Nesta Hedderwick a wealthy widow on a tomato juice diet, who lives with her companion Miss Bertha Pelligrew and a collection of young people – her niece Dilys, the questionable play boy Tony Shenton and his girlfriend Kitty Linden and an artist Paul Latour. When Bill arrives it becomes clear that more than one of them has something to hide and the tension begins to rise.

1952 Vedette – is this the get away car?

Meredith and Strang put up at the Hotel Louis and meet their French counterparts, Inspectors Blampignon and Gibaud, the four quickly overcome their language difficulties and form a companionable team.The Mediterranean sparkles under a cloudless blue sky and the scent of mimosa and heliotrope hang in the warm air. With the investigation taking them to Monte Carlo and Nice, and having the glittering harbour as a crime scene, Meredith and Strang are in no hurry to return to London!

Death on the Riviera is a lot of fun, it’s a good story that builds on excitement, with an array of characters, humour and red herrings. First published in 1952 the glamour of the Riviera is delectable.