Murder in St. Barts

Book excerpt: Charles Trenet of the Gendarmerie Nationale has just arrived on St. Barthelemy for three years in paradise. The exclusive island in the French West Indies lives up to its jet-setters' reputation as a beautiful and peaceful retreat for models, moguls and movie stars. However, Trenet's life is suddenly thrown into turmoil when he is assigned to solve the murder of Bobbi Freon, a rich and eccentric American fashion designer who has been found stabbed to death in his pricey villa. Murder on St. Barthelemy is nearly unheard of, and Trenet's superiors are eager to protect the island's thriving tourist industry by discreetly and swiftly handling this mounting crisis. The inexperienced young gendarme's investigation into the fashion designer's life uncovers a dark world of decadence and unsavory business practices, with the victim's former business partners quickly scrambling to take control of the multimillion dollar company he created. Bobbi Freon clearly was disliked by many people who all stand to gain by his death and Gendarme Trenet must sort through the seemingly endless list of suspects... First in a series, Murder In St. Barts introduces the likeable and boyish Gendarme Charles Trenet in this entertaining tale of murder and redemption.