This is the second installment in the Paris Bookshop Mysteries, a spinoff series from the Hugo Marston Mysteries.

Hugo Marston is drawn into a Paris Police investigation when the victim of an attempted car-jacking in the city refuses to give police his name and insists on speaking with Hugo only. The man, Devoid¿Chaudoir, is in witness protection and Hugo helps him stay there, despite his links to a questionable wine distribution¿business.

That investigation also involves a new friend of Hugo's, sommelier Cristine Valdes. When she's murdered in broad daylight, Hugo has to leave the comforts of running his recently opened bookshop to help Lieutenant Camille Lerens catch Cristine's killer.

In the meantime, Hugo is also trying to solve a mystery closer to home: A wooden case he found under the floorboards at his new shop contains a gun, a bloody towel, and a notebook written entirely in code. His innate curiosity sets him on a path to uncover what these all mean, and when they point toward a miscarriage of justice, Hugo ignores those telling him to let sleeping dogs lie and forges ahead to discover the truth of a 30-year-old murder.