A week in Cannes can be murder.

The action plunges through the famous hotels and bars of the French Riviera during the summer festival season as Andy Carrick — an ex-soldier still doing battle with himself – hunts for the cut-throat razor killer of a decadent advertising guru murdered during a long lunch.

Is it really the crime of passion it’s been made to look, he wonders?

Or is it actually big business related?

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s a brazen art forgery scam?

At first the murder seems a real life-saver to Carrick, he aches to get back to the centre of things.

But suddenly he's not so sure. The investigation is leading him straight back to his own messy past, a dark and lonely place he’s in no hurry to revisit. Memories of Afghanistan, the failure of his marriage, the death of his mentor, all his insecurities and lack of certainty threaten to engulf the investigation.

When his own alibi crumbles, he starts wondering one more thing: can he survive seven days and nights in a town full of liars for hire?

Want vivid characters and tight plotting shot through with dry wit? An intense psychological struggle against time, the French police, Marseille gangsters, faithlesss friends and the hero's own demons?

Strap yourself in.

It's John Buchan meets Ian Rankin.

Praise for Michael Newman from Amazon readers:

“Newman engages the reader from the first page . . . a smart and compelling book” — Sarah A. Schaffer

“Absolutely wonderful, well written and very unique … I totally love it. It will stay in my personal library. (No, I won't be selling it on Amazon like I do most of my books.) It will get read again and again” — Susanna Hutcheson

“He knows how to get attention … Read it for the asides, the tangents . . . the rambles. We recommend you read it for pleasure” — Rolf Dobelli

“It is these captivating interludes that make the book really valuable . . . an engaging repast . . . anybody reading this book is sure to find in it a delightful book worth possessing” — Mind Mapper