Peter Smith has the tranquility of his retirement interrupted by an attack while visiting the Roman Amphitheatre in Arles. He is knocked unconscious and comes to in the company of a well-dressed corpse, Robert DuGresson. Underneath it, in fact. From the moment he gets a late-night visit from the man’s beautiful widow, Smith and his companion in retirement, Arthur the greyhound, find themselves gradually embroiled in a deepening intrigue of Camargue farmers, Provencal conspiracy, Marseilles criminal families, European police and good food.