A murdered mayor. A second body reduced to skeleton and dust. The public display so horrific that the police are baffled.

Everyone assumes uninterested heir Louis Saint-Blancat will finally settle down and focus on the politics of Toulouse, France. Louis becomes the center of attention in the press while his mother and sister pressure him to follow the family's political tradition when all he wants is to track down his father's killer, then return to his globe-trotting lifestyle.

Determined to ferret out the story behind the perplexing assassination that took place at the very center of Toulouse to advance her career, struggling English journalist Catherine Marty finds an unlikely ally in Louis.

Will the two sleuths discover what is lurking beneath the apparent congeniality of la Ville Rose?