The Maids of Paradise

In the rain-soaked chaos of the Franco-Prussian War, Imperial Military Police inspector John Scarlett receives a dangerous assignment: find John Buckhurst, a figure hidden within a controversial colony beyond the reach of law, and bring him to justice. But the world has grown strange in these final days before the Empire's collapse. The colony at La Trappe, led by the idealistic Countess de Vassart, has become a haven for socialists and dreamers fleeing the machinery of war. As Scarlett navigates military confusion, treacherous terrain, and his own wavering loyalties, he discovers that justice and duty may not be the same thing. This is a novel about the moment when the old world dies and nothing certain remains except the choice between what is lawful and what is right.