Nicolas Freeling: The Janeites

From the Publisher:
'William doesn't lurk and neither does he stalk; it gets noticed. Incompetent and illegal, and he has no intention of disturbing Doctor Holier-than-Thou - or not for the moment; that's the fellow who would be quick to make a complaint and he's no longer a serving cop: status dodgy. He'll pounce though on poor Mireille. She's easy to spot; the studio is in the Robertsau quarter for prestige and she has a little Spider, Italian racing red, old but bold. She's also very pretty - really Ray has good taste, he thinks when she looms. He looms too, large and cop-like...'

This powerful meditation, set in Strasbourg and Paris, looks at how we cope with illness and impending death. William is an ex-minder to a veteran French politician. His life is in tatters: his wife has left him and now he has been diagnosed with cancer, the 'Crab'. His old boss arranges for a top doctor to treat him but he is soon beaten up in an alleyway outside his apartment block. Evil forces are at work, and William must act quickly before someone is killed...

Nicolas Freeling: The Janeites. Arcadia Books; ISBN: 1900850737 (January, 2003); 208 p., £11.99