"Anne Cartier and her husband, Paul, provost of the Paris Highway Patrol in eighteenth-century France, are vacationing in Nice, where they hope the pleasant climate will help Paul recover from stress-induced malaise. Then they learn that Jean LeBrun, a skilled artisan imprisoned 20 years earlier for killing his master, has escaped from prison and may be hiding nearby. Paul is intrigued, especially since some suggest LeBrun was framed for his master's murder. He sets off for Paris to enlist the help of his trusted adjutant. Meanwhile, Anne, whose keen amateur detecting has helped Paul solve previous cases, decides to launch her own investigation in Nice, where the crime took place two decades ago. But her attention is diverted when a rakish army captain is brutally murdered at the country estate where she is staying. Can this crime have a connection with the LeBrun case? Solidly written, carefully researched, and inventively plotted, O'Brien's latest installment in this likable series will thoroughly satisfy historical-mystery fans who relish an extra helping of richly flavored period detail."  

Publishers Weekly, July 24, 2006, p. 40

". . . well-written . . . and the usual attention to period detail."