Blowback

When France's top chef, Marc Fraysse, summoned the world's press to make a shattering announcement, rumors abounded that he was about to lose one of his three coveted Michelin stars. Instead, on arrival at his remote restaurant on a volcanic plateau in central France, they were greeted with the news that the troubled genius had been murdered, and the message he intended to deliver was never made. Seven years on, the identity of his killer also remains an enigma.

Enzo Macleod takes on his fifth cold case and delves into the big business and high stakes of French haute cuisine. As winter sets in, and snow gathers along a volcanic horizon, he retraces long cold footsteps across a remote hilltop. But unravelling the complex web of relationships that surrounded the brilliant and mercurial chef - a spurned lover, a jealous wife, an estranged brother, an embittered food critic--also leads to strange parallels with his own life. And in opening up this celebrated cold case, he finds himself reopening old wounds from his past.

An award-winning journalist at 21 in his native Scotland, Peter May left newspapers for television and screenwriting, creating three prime-time British drama series, and accruing more than 1000 television credits before moving to France to concentrate on his first love, writing novels. He is the author of 15 novels including two series: The Enzo Files and The China Thrillers. May won the French Prix Intramuros in 2007 for Cadavres Chinois à Houston (Snakehead) and is the only Westerner to become an honorary member of the Chinese Crime Writers’ Association.