It's good to read a proper novel for a change - and Massie evokes Vichy France of 1941 so vividly that this is a (melancholy) joy to read. The murder is largely irrelevant, although it lends the story a certain structure; the main business, though, concerns the blackmail of a German officer and the awakenings in various ways of various of the younger generation of characters. The book ends with a sort of cliffhanger - and I was compelled to crack open the sequel (Cold Winter ...) immediately. ( )