The Voice of Aliette Nouvelle

In his heyday, Jacques Normand was France’s Public Enemy Number One, a glamorous rogue who captured the imagination of the entire country. As he led police on a merry chase, he also made the career of Commissaire Louis Moreau, former head of the Paris Anti-gangs unit, now the commander of a small Police Judiciare force in a sleepy border town.rnrnAfter escaping from prison, Normand fled Paris and has been neither seen nor heard from for more than ten years. And because the Normand file has lain dormant since before she joined the force, Inspector Aliette Nouvelle has naturally assumed that the outlaw is dead and the case closed. But one afternoon, Commissaire Moreau drops Normand’s file on her desk. The Commissaire is convinced that Normand is still very much alive and in the vicinity. Find him, he commands Aliette. Bring him in. Put him away for good.rnrnInspector Aliette Nouvelle is a rising star in the force and she senses, rightly, that the soon-to-retire Commissaire has chosen to pass the torch on to her. So, although she remains skeptical, Aliette accepts his challenge and sets out to dig up a forgotten hero. Her only clues are those she finds in the outlaw’s out-of-print memoir, and in the gloomy face on a faded Wanted poster.