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Author: Matthews, Stephanie

France

Published on 6 June 2024 by ICON BOOKS in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 288 pages
242 x 164 x 30 | 526g

‘A serious reinvestigation full of revealing background information that sheds additional light on what was then and now remains a shocking crime’ Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking’This riveting, eye-opening investigation of a 70-year-old murder mystery reads like a whodunit … A true crime must-read’ Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream’As much social history as it is gripping true crime’ Jeremy Craddock, author of The Jigsaw Murders’A meticulously researched re-examination’ Caitlin Davies, author of Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths1950s France. A British establishment figure. A shocking crime. A miscarriage of justice. The search for truth.

In 1952, in a peaceful corner of Provence, a farmer’s son stumbled upon a terrible scene. Three bodies: a husband and wife shot dead, their ten-year-old daughter savagely beaten to death. They were all British. So begins one of the most notorious murder cases in French history.

Sir Jack Drummond was a senior advisor to the British government, a household name who was respected and admired. His fame made the case a cause celebre in France and resulted in the swift conviction of a local farmer, but questions about Drummond’s life and death remain unanswered.

In this bold new investigation, Stephanie Matthews and Daniel Smith strip away the prejudice and propaganda to reveal a grave miscarriage of justice. A light is shone on Drummond’s secret life in the shadows of the Cold War, painting a portrait of an enigmatic man who may not have been the innocent holidaymaker he appeared to be, and recasting one of the twentieth century’s most notorious murders in a fascinating and important new light.