A soupçon of danger, a brush with 'madame guillotine,' and the quirky characters of the French countryside, all collide in this fifth installment of the Bennett Sisters Mysteries, set in la belle France-- where, obviously, wine, sunshine, sunflowers, and Frenchmen cure all ills. Or do they? Merle Bennett goes back to France -- and her Frenchman (after 'The Things We Said Today.') Sure that France will cure all her ills, and help her write a novel about the French Revolution, she sets out to prove her theory correct. Pascal, her Frenchman, scoffs at this. As a policeman he knows France is pretty to look at but can be not that pretty under the surface.

While Merle writes and renovates her stone cottage, Pascal encounters an old enemy, a man he put in prison years before. When Pascal disappears Merle isn't sure if their relationship is over, or something terrible has happened.

'The Frenchman' includes chapters of Merle's novel, a glimpse into life during the turmoil of the Revolution. With goats and a handsome stranger!