
Ill Met by Moonlight
Rene Weis(Author)
Matador (Publisher)
Published on 28. September 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
464 pages
978-1-80514-062-7 (ISBN)
Description
On a steamy August night in 1952, a British family settles down to sleep beside their car in a lay-by. Before daybreak all three of them, a father, a mother, and their ten-year-old daughter, have been brutally murdered.
In a remote corner of Provence two worlds collide under a full moon. The British family are pioneering scientists and cosmopolitan; the French family accused of the crime are farmers defined by their land and codes of conduct which struck outsiders as feral. The accused farmers closed ranks and lied repeatedly in the shadow of the guillotine and to save the family's honour. An inspector calls. With extraordinary tenacity he tracks down the man dubbed 'the monster of the farm of the damned'.
This is the true story of the most contested murder in France since the Second World War, the inspiration for films and tales of espionage, hit squads, wartime bullion treasure, and chemical weapons research. Doubts still linger locally in this part of France as to the final judicial outcome. Conspiracy theories about the reason for the murders are routinely aired, and some family members of the man finally convicted of the crime still claim his innocence.
In a remote corner of Provence two worlds collide under a full moon. The British family are pioneering scientists and cosmopolitan; the French family accused of the crime are farmers defined by their land and codes of conduct which struck outsiders as feral. The accused farmers closed ranks and lied repeatedly in the shadow of the guillotine and to save the family's honour. An inspector calls. With extraordinary tenacity he tracks down the man dubbed 'the monster of the farm of the damned'.
This is the true story of the most contested murder in France since the Second World War, the inspiration for films and tales of espionage, hit squads, wartime bullion treasure, and chemical weapons research. Doubts still linger locally in this part of France as to the final judicial outcome. Conspiracy theories about the reason for the murders are routinely aired, and some family members of the man finally convicted of the crime still claim his innocence.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Market Harborough
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Troubador Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80514-062-7 (9781805140627)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Rene Weis is a freelance writer and academic from University College London. He has published books on history, biography, and a notorious miscarriage of justice. His books include The Yellow Cross ('utterly absorbing' - Daily Telegraph; 'succeeds enthrallingly' - The Times) and The Real Traviata ('superbly readable and meticulously researched' - Sunday Times).