Northern France, 2016

When he was a cop, Laurent investigated deaths. Now he tracks down the living. A new law requires insurance companies to try to find the beneficiaries of unclaimed life-insurance policies. So our hero is both a private eye and a bearer of good tidings. But this time, he’s on a hard case. What ties could have bound the wealthy heiress Henriette Benson to the ambitious young Freddy Delersnyder, who disappeared quite some time ago?

All trails lead to Calais, and they bring a time of long-forgotten faith in the future back to life: the era of the pink wave following the election of François Mitterrand, France’s first Socialist president. They also paint a complex portrait of a kindly social climber.

In the company of the lovely Sonia, Laurent rambles through the modern city and its environs, seeing the misery and poverty of both the migrants and many of the town’s citizens…

Michel Quint offers readers a story with a strong political standpoint about a region on the skids. A narrative that intertwines documentary precision with the thrill of an investigation, for a fascinating and tragic tale of two cities.