A gripping morality tale of twentieth-century Paris.Translated from the French by Margaret Crosland & Elfreda Powell. The reprint of the French crime novel that was awarded the top prize for best crime story of itsyear by the French Crime Writers Association andhas since become a huge hit in the UK as part of Arcadia's EuroCrime Series. Set in the heart of the rag-trade district in Paris over a singlehectic month, it takes the reader along a dark path' of sinister events that centre around the murder of a young Thai woman - but take in every element of sleazy city life. Extraordinaire!Review"'The novel I liked most this year. Set in Le Sentier, the district of Paris where expensive clothes are made in sweatshops, it uses real events - the struggle by foreign workers in 1980 to get legal status - as the setting for an extraordinarily vivid crime novel' - Joan Smith, Books of the Year, Independent 'A splendid neo-realistic tale of everyday bleakness and transgression set in the seedy underworld of Paris. You can smell the Gitanes and pastis fumes of the real France' - Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian 'The complexity and the uncompromising tone have drawn comparisons with American writers such as James Ellroy. But Manotti's ability to convey the unique rhythms of a French police investigation distinguishes Rough Trade' - Daily Telegraph 'Tightly written, undoubtedly realistic and often exciting' - The Times" About the AuthorDominique Manotti teaches nineteenth-century Economic History. Rough Trade, her first novel, was awarded the top prize for the best thriller of the year by the French Crime Writers Association. Her other books include Lorraine Connections and Dead Horsemeat. 

A story of murder, dirty tricks, blackmail, wheeling and dealing.

A group of school friends from the heyday of 1968 France take center stage in this racy account of horse racing, public corruption, and criminal intent. Agathe Renourd and her protégé, Nicolas Berger, are in charge of the communications network of a major European insurance consortium. Christian Deluc has become a council member at the Elysée Palace, and Amelie raises thoroughbreds. Now, in 1989, their paths cross in an unexpected fashion as events begin to spiral out of control. Racehorses die under mysterious circumstances; unimaginable quantities of cocaine appear at Parisian parties; and the dashing Nicolas Berger meets a violent end when a bomb explodes in his car. The search for resolution produces a dark ride filled with political intrigue and mystery.

1987. Two Italian prisoners escape prison in a rubbish lorry. Parting company, Carlo heads for Milan, while Filippo treks north over the mountains. When Carlo is killed in a shoot-out during a bank robbery – and under deeply suspicious circumstances – a massive manhunt is launched. Frightened for his own safety, Filippo flees to Paris, where he’s assisted by Italian political exiles and finds work as a security guard. Long, lonely hours lead him to recall a story told to him by Carlo in prison – the explosive account of a former leader of the Red Brigades – and Filippo begins to devote his evenings to writing it down. His landlady, Cristina, finds him a publisher and the book becomes an instant bestseller. Carefully coached by his publishers, Filippo steadfastly refuses to admit that the book is anything other than fiction, but the public don’t believe him. Nor do the police. Trapped by fate and his own efforts to evade the truth, Filippo must accept that his assumed identity carries far greater risks than his own. As the tension builds, ex-journalist Lisa – Carlo’s one-time lover – becomes convinced that Carlo’s death was no accident. It’s not long before her investigations begin to expose a complex trail of corruption and political manoeuvres, with potentially fatal consequences. Chilling, eye-opening and utterly compelling, Escape poses questions and questions values, twisting and turning to reaching a climax that will leave you breathless.

Dominique Manotti is back on form with a tale of intrigue and corruption. A call-girl whose black book lists her elite international clients is found murdered in an underground garage; a plane bound for Iran laden with illegal arms disappears from the skies over Turkey, and the president's closest advisor Bornard, head of a controversial Elysée security unit, manipulates the system with consummate ease – and illegality. Until the day when rookie investigator Noria Ghozali determines to untangle the threads which bind these events together. In doing so she penetrates the Elysée's innermost system, confronts the workings of money and corruption within government, and in the process is forced to combat the institutional – and overt – racism which repeatedly stalls her. 'A splendid neo-realistic tale of everyday bleakness and transgression set in the seedy underworld of Paris. You can smell the Gitanes and pastis fumes of the real France' Maxim...