1775. Commissioner Nicolas Le Floch is on a diplomatic mission to Vienna, ostensibly to deliver a bust of Marie Antoinette to her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa. His real task, however, is to investigate the breakdown of French secret intelligence in Austria. The city is a hotbed of plotting
- & Nicolas only just survives an attempt on his life. On his return to France, Paris is in turmoil. The soaring price of grain & bread is causing widespread social unrest, & Nicolas` first police case is the unexplained death of a baker. Could it be that events in the French capital are somehow connected to his experiences in Vienna...?