Paris, 1927. Anne Johnson is missing among the city’s artists and expats. Detective Michael Temple is sent to bring her home. Her trail leads to Left Bank cafés, nightclubs in Montmartre, the homes of celebrated hostesses, a boutique publishing house, an art gallery of questionable repute, a painter’s studio, and a smuggler’s den. All to no avail. As the summer of 1927 draws to a close, Anne has become an enigma, and Temple is left with more questions than answers.
1989. Temple is pushing 90 and is hungry for a last adventure. He happens across information that suggests a solution to the mysteries surrounding that long-ago summer. He returns to Paris hoping for more than a swan song. He wants answers and measure of justice.
The book is both a prequel and sequel to Chasing Dietrich, Mears’ first Michael Temple mystery which was named to Kirkus reviews’ Best of 2012.