Fred Vargas

A small mountain community in the French Alps is horrified when a sheep is found with its throat torn out. One villager believes it may be a werewolf, and she subsequently suffers a similar death. Commissaire Adamsberg is summoned from the city to assist in the investigation.

"As the chief of police in Paris's seventh arrondissement, Commissaire Adamsberg has no jurisdiction in Ordebec. Yet, he cannot ignore a widow's plea. Her daughter Lina has seen a vision of the Ghost Riders with four nefarious men. According to the thousand-year-old legend, the vision means that the men will soon die a grisly death. When one of them disappears, Adamsberg races to Ordebec, where he becomes entranced by the gorgeous Lina--and embroiled...

"When Commissaire Adamsberg, the chief of police in Paris's 7th Arrondissement, is called to the scene of a ghastly and highly unusual murder, he thinks it can't have anything to do with the nine pairs of shoes and severed feet discovered outside of London's Highgate Cemetery just a few days earlier. With the help of the murdered man's gifted physician, Adamsberg delves into the victim's disturbed psyche and unexpectedly finds himself on a path that...

"In a small Parisian square, the ancient tradition of the town crier continues into modern times. The self-appointed crier, Joss Le Guern, reads out the daily news, snippets of gossip, and lately, ominous messages placed in his handmade wooden message box by an annonymous source that warn of an imminent onset of the bubonic plague."