Items filtered by date: June 2026

This is a chateau near the town of Joinville in the Haute Marne region of northeast France. I don't know its name--I saved the image when I was exploring along the wide valley of the Marne with an unlikely hero in mind: a mere private in France's military police corps in the 1730s.

What chances might Cavalier Constant have to uncover anything useful about the rural aristocrats who live in a place like this? The approach on horseback, through the picturesque hills and farms that surround it, then across the well-tended grounds, is not too difficult. But what happens when he fronts up to the grand entrance? Are the privileged people inside these imposing walls obliged to even open their doors to him?

Discover more about Constant's risky investigation in Murder at Cirey on Amazon.

As you know, Murder at Cirey is on pre-order on Amazon and will be released in a week's time. Meanwhile the publication date of Death in Champagne, the next Victor Constant Investigation, is confirmed by Sapere Books: it comes out on 18 September, also on Amazon. If you're new to the exploits of Victor Constant and you're a reader of masters like Bernard Cornwell, Donna Leon and Peter James, you may be tempted by his first adventures. And for lovers of Mary Higgins Clark: an earlier edition of Murder at Cirey was once partnered with her The Melody Lingers On in Reader’s Digest Select Editions. Welcome to the darker side of the wonderful Champagne region of France!

Voltaire, one of the philosophers of the Enlightenment, fought for freedom of thought, liberty of expression and social justice. His works still cause controversy: in 2006 a production of his famous novella Candide, composed in the 20th century as an opera by Leonard Bernstein, was taken off the stage of La Scala because it satirised modern Western political leaders. Revived, Candide was a hit at La Scala in 2007. Also in 2007, Muslim protesters in a town in France tried to prevent a reading of Voltaire’s Mahomet (1741), but the mayor insisted that the play go on, in the name of freedom of speech.

Voltaire also wrote for the opera stage and in the 1730s provided the libretto for Samson by Rameau. He could not attend the first performances because he was hiding out in the remote Champagne province at the time, but his mistress Émilie du Châtelet was able to do so--she was a dedicated opera fan anyway. When she rejoined Voltaire at the Château de Cirey she gave him a report on the performances. I just came across a very amusing video revealing that this 'lost opera by Voltaire' has been revived for the Festival of Aix en Provence and broadcast by ARTE in Europe. The video is in French but the illustrations retell Samson's well-known story brilliantly.

Samson comes up in the first Victor Constant Investigation, Murder at Cirey, which is now on pre-order on Amazon.

On my Facebook and Instagram pages I'm continuing an interview conducted by author Helen Hollick with the hero of Murder at Cirey, mounted gendarme Victor Constant. In the spring of 1735 he was banished by the military police, the Maréchaussée, from Paris to a remote area in the Haute Marne, and then in the first week of summer he was faced with a murder case that because of a dangerous dissension with his superior officers he was forced to solve on his own. 

Here is the latest interview question from Helen Hollick. The illustration is of course a portrait of the redoubtable physicist and mathematician, Madame du Châtelet. Murder at Cirey is currently on pre-order on Amazon.

 HH: Tell me about one or two of the other characters who feature with you in your story. Who are some of the nice characters and who is the nastiest one?

I’ll start with the nastiest one, who is of course the murderer. He is just the kind of man (he would call himself a gentleman, but he doesn’t deserve the title) whom one meets in the top echelons of provincial society, and who takes advantage of his position to feather his own nest and treat everyone with contempt. This one is also intelligent enough to be a cunning conspirator, and ruthless enough to frame his associates for his own crimes. I finally got the measure of him—but I was nearly too late! At the opposite end of the aristocratic spectrum is Mme du Châtelet. But I wouldn’t describe her as ‘nice’, exactly. ‘Spectacular’ is perhaps the word. Here is the impression she made on me when she kindly offered advice on my detective work:

‘Victor took the cue and rose to his feet. He would have preferred to stay and continue the conversation that Madame du Châtelet had carried on with such verve and grace. Her presence and her musical voice animated the room, influencing the currents of feeling and thought in startling ways. Her figure was perfect. Her face, with its well-defined features and glowing eyes, had great powers of expression and she was dressed with a flair that set off her distinctive beauty. But it was not just her person that dazzled him, it was her sheer vitality.’