Through the Wall

A new appointment promises Paul Coquenil a return to professional honor after his unexplained departure from the Paris police. Walking near Notre-Dame with his shepherd dog, Cæsar, he is preparing to leave for Brazil when a young candle seller catches his attention. Cleveland Moffett opens this detective novel amid cathedral shadows, summer heat and uneasy talk of an earlier crime, giving Coquenil's intuition a place alongside his police experience.

Lloyd Kittredge faces another kind of pressure in an examination by Judge Hauteville. Private letters become a means of forcing an admission about a past relationship with Mrs. Wilmott, while the threat of involving Alice makes the questioning more painful. The judge presents an accusation built on jealousy, a weapon and footprints that match Kittredge's boots. These scenes join the detective's hunches to the demands of official inquiry. Readers interested in crime fiction set in Paris will find a story about evidence, personal loyalties and the human costs of suspicion.