It's 1987. Carlo and Filippo break out of prison in a garbage truck and head their separate ways. Carlo soon dies in a shoot-out while Filippo assumes a new identity, working as a security guard in Paris. He spends his nights writing down stories Carlo told him in prison of a mysterious Red Brigadier. These stories are published, and Filippo finds himself bombarded by suspicion and intense scrutiny. Despite all of his protestations that the book is a work of fiction, the public does not buy it. Unfortunately for Filippo, neither do the police, whose dogged investigations begin to produce the reasons why. Ultimately, Filippo finds his assumed identity carries far greater risks than his real one.

Dominique Manotti is a professor of 19th-century economic history in Paris. She is also the author of several novels including Rough Trade, Dead Horsemeat (short-listed for the Duncan Lawrie International Dagger Award), Lorraine Connection (which won the International Dagger Award and was nominated for the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards), and Affairs of State.