Bruno's archaeologist friend Clothilde asks him to help Abby, an American woman who wants to settle in the Perigord after a grim divorce back in the United States. Abby hopes to become an official tour guide in the region, specializing in American connections, from Thomas Jefferson to Henry Miller, ...

Bruno's archaeologist friend Clothilde asks him to help Abby, an American woman who wants to settle in the Perigord after a grim divorce back in the United States. Abby hopes to become an official tour guide in the region, specializing in American connections, from Thomas Jefferson to Henry Miller, from the Lindbergh family to the paratroopers who dropped into the region in the summer of 1944 to support the Resistance.

But that long ago summer suddenly pushes its way into the present with the revelation of three sets of bones buried deep in the woods. Bruno must find out whose bones they are and whether their burial amounts to a war crime. He is further distracted when nature takes its toll and the normally tranquil Dordogne river rises to record levels that threaten the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through the town of St Denis.