The Eighth Child

alan brading, a young englishman, sees his french wife gunned down in front of him in a london street. he even sees the face of her killer. a few days later, at her funeral in a small town in the loire valley, he is certain he sees the murderer again, but nobody will believe him. nor can he persuade the police to take action.
after a year of wasted effort, alan sets of again to france to find the murderer himself and bring him to justice. helped by his wife's younger sister, jeanette, he begins to uncover a complex web of hatred and intrigue which goes back to the emnity between resistance fighters and collaborationists in nazi-occupied france in the last war.
as he gets close to discovering the town's dreadful secret he finds himself fighting a duel to the death with the evil homicidal maniac in the dense forests and deep caves of the area.
at stake is his own life and those of the people he loves.