Publisher's Synopsis
Who remembers it? The territory of Guang Zhou Wan, located at the southern most point of Guangdong province, was a French colony between 1898 and 1945. France made this place into a free port, which alas never really took off. The colony had to make a living of more dubious activities... like gambling and opium trafficking. Furthermore, during the war, the French in Guang Zhou Wan also had to coexist with Japan. The Jungle of Surprise resurrects this ambiguous past...Paris, 1958. Just who was it who sent Monsieur Sergent, the quiet and distinguished resident of 11, rue François Ponsart, 16th arrondissement, an air-mailed letter from Hong Kong? wonders Léonie, the caretaker of that exclusive building, when she finds it in her batch of morning mail.Curiosity, though, has a well-known consequence for cats and it won't be long before the same result mars the pretty marble floor of a flat close by. One cannot, it seems, disturb the shady past of a remote old French colony in South China: that of Fort-Bayard, with impunity.Taking on the role of reluctant private investigator, Léonie attempts to discover the links connecting Monsieur Sergent to this forgotten world, uncovering strange ghosts along the way: Bouillon and Vallée, the railwaymen; Claret-Llobet, the rogue; Wawa, the little devil; and Pah, the touching young girl... while, at the same time, trying to deal with Inspector Fleurus of the Paris CID impeding her progress and with other intruders inviting themselves into the inquiry.
