CENOTAPH FOR THE LIVING<\/em><\/h3>\nFrom his hiding place behind the high, elaborate burial chambers, Sparky kept an eye on the whole circle of grass and paths. His eyes locked on like magnets to the strange lady who sat talking to somebody next to her, who wasn\u2019t there. He\u2019d seen plenty of unstable people, usually alcoholics or drug abusers, who talked to invisible friends, but somehow, this lady didn\u2019t quite fit that mould. There was something about her that said she was holding a perfectly normal conversation, not the ravings of someone whose mind was on another planet.<\/em><\/p>\nHe dismissed the thought and looked back at the package that Ken had thrown over the railings. Unsettling to think there were one million euros in there. As he eased a cramp in his leg, he sensed someone behind him. There was no noise; just the smell of tobacco smoke and stale sweat. Years of Special Forces training made him instinctively reach for his weapon. Then he remembered that those days were gone, and he turned to see a man in his forties wearing a crumpled suit. Though the day was pleasantly warm, it was not unduly hot, yet the man\u2019s face had a sheen of sweat as though he\u2019d just splashed water on himself.<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d the man snapped.<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cTrying to find my way out,\u201d Sparky said in his best broken French. \u201cI got lost a bit and ended up here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cYou are English?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cYes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cHmmm, yes, I remember now. I saw you earlier next to the grave of Oscar Wilde. All English people are crazy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cSorry, can you talk a bit more slowly. My French is not very good.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cYou must go now. It is closing time. We lock the gates at six o\u2019clock and everybody has to be out before that.\u201d The man made a motion with his hand like turning a big key.<\/em><\/p>\nSparky didn\u2019t understand every word, but he certainly got the gist. \u201cAnd that lady over there?\u201d he said, pointing to the pink woman who was still talking to herself.<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cMadame Laurent,\u201d the man said, whirling his finger at the side of his head. \u201cElle est folle. She is mad. She comes here often and talks to ghosts. She already knows we are closing. She will leave soon.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nSparky stepped out from behind the mausoleum. The shopping bag was still at the foot of Casimir P\u00e9rier\u2019s memorial.<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThat way is out,\u201d the man said, pointing behind him.<\/em><\/p>\nSparky turned and sauntered away. His cover was blown and he was a great believer in the old addage, \u2018if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging\u2019. So he made for the entrance, hoping Ken would be nearby and they could formulate a plan B. He took one last look at the crazy lady and left the scene.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Book cover design by Bruno Cavellec, Copyright \u00a9 Bruno Cavellec 2018.
\nImage used and published according to the licence granted by the artist<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve followed this blog, you\u2019ll be aware that I mix personal interest with purely food and culinary content. One of my hobbies is writing and my thirteenth book called \u2018Cenotaph for the Living\u2019 has been released. \u2018Cenotaph for the Living\u2019 is the second in \u2018The French Collection\u2019 and the characters move forward into a … Continue reading Cenotaph for the Living<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,123,61],"tags":[122,124,107],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":674,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions\/674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needarecipe.com\/food-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Cenotaph](\"http:\/\/graham-hamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/3D-cover-300x225.png\")
In Cenotaph for the Living, Tristan disappears on his 20th birthday. His family receive a ransom note demanding one million euros. The trouble is, they can’t report it to the police because it’s the police who sent the ransom note. Matters go from bad to worse until an old friend of Ken’s arrives on the scene. He’s been brought in to track down the corruption in the police and gendarme services. But it’s two against dozens. How is that going to pan out? Meanwhile Camille Laurent finds herself talking to a ghost who doesn’t know who he is.