A mild and humble heart. In a seaside resort in the south of France, the episcopal motto chimes with Sophie's hopes for a peaceful Christmas. Reality, alas, decides otherwise. The troubled heart of a gangster's wife, the cynical heart of a wily Mayor, the raging heart of Sophie's sister, the shattered heart of a santon maker - all combine in an escalating drama of sin, guilt, jealousy, corruption and murder.

In the final book of the series, fates and futures are decided, unfinished business gets finished, and the story of the Gospel is given a new twist as God and Satan battle it out with theatrical intensity. No wonder the nativity play doesn't go quite as planned...

I grew up in Wales, was educated in England and have spent most of my life in France. I've been writing since the age of 10, when my first poem was sent to a competition by my English teacher. After moving to France, I ran a café-theatre till it got demolished, whereupon I scratched my head, wondering what to do next. Eventually I became a university lecturer, specialising in Second Language Acquisition, even though (apart, obviously, from French) I've spectacularly failed to learn any languages (I'm currently trying Dutch and can already say 'The turtle eats the sandwich', which is very encouraging). I spent two years in Mayotte, a tiny, unknown island in the Indian Ocean, which France bought for 1000 piastres in 1842. Magali Rousseau (my heroine) got into a lot of trouble there, but now, like me, she's back in Provence, where she jogs, paints, and catches murderers. You can find out more about us at curtisbaussebooks.com.