The Orchid Shroud

Book excerpt: A strange beast is killing both livestock and humans in the Dordogne . . . Business is booming for orchidologist Julian and interior designer Mara, but things take a horrifying turn when, in the wall of the sixteenth-century manor house she has been commissioned to restore, Mara’s workmen find a mummified baby. Forensic analysis reveals that the baby had been smothered more than a hundred years before. Julian discovers that the infant’s shawl is embroidered with an exact likeness of a rare orchid he has been researching. Meanwhile Mara falls under suspicion in another more recent murder, linked not only to the mummified child but, seemingly, to the spectre of a werewolf . . . As sinister revelations abound, so too do the legends and superstitions of the Dordogne. The breathtaking world of wild orchids and delectable Dordognais cookery provide atmosphere in equal part to the unraveling mystery. A superb and accomplished follow-up to Deadly Slipper.