I'm always so pleased when I hear that another mystery from French writer Fred Vargas has become available. Her plots often contain elements of the supernatural and she brings together a disparate group of quirky characters who together make up the Serious Crime Squad in Paris. Vargas tells a dark tale but her sense of humour is evident throughout and brings a lightness to the action.

In this volume, Inspector Adamsberg is sent to London to a conference along with Danglard and his encyclopaedic memory for facts. They are taken to see an odd offering that has been left outside Highgate Cemetary in London, well known for it's supernatural history...a heap of 17 shoes, containing decomposing feet. Back in Paris, the detectives are brought to a horrendous crime scene which is somehow linked to the feet.

In solving the case, Adamsberg travels to a village in Serbia, known for its history of vampires and he finds himself in danger, not only from the killer, but also from a young man who claims to be his son, not to mention a plot within the Paris legal legal hierarchy to destroy his career.

This is an excellent read and I can't wait for her next book.