A gripping Hitchcockian tale of summer heat, wealth and mystery. Nerve-racking and surprising.

The whole story of this short yet dense novel takes place over two days. On a sultry summer day, a handsome and relaxed white-dressed stranger arrives at the mansion house of a wealthy family located on a secluded island off the Britanny coast, introducing himself as an old boarding-school friend of the prodigal son, expected to return any day. Before the day ends, the "talented Mr Ripley"-like stranger, named Boris, has made friends with the two flirtatious sisters, the ageing father and the congenial mother. The son-in-law is the only one made useasy by this man who seems too good to be true.

Joncour keeps creating potentially dramatic situations, leading us to expect disaster: a night swim in the most dangerous part of the island, the discovery of a corpse, a call from the gendarmes, a speedboat outing, a visit to the mansion's armoury, even a dip in the pool take on sinister undertones. As almost every chapter ends with a cliff-hanger, the beginning of the following one both relieves the reader and deepens the sense of brooding catastrophe.

The background gradually unfolds: the slightly boring but efficient son-in-law used to work for the family before marrying the daughter; unknown to the others, the prodigal son was in jail rather than living the life in the US, covered up by his brother-in-law; this is where the handsome Boris helped him adjust and protected him from the other inmates. When Philip finally appears, the tragedy takes place, but Joncour manages to astonish us with a most economical and powerful ending in a dazzling game of cat and mouse.