France's favourite country cop, Bruno, faces a dangerous threat to the town he polices and the people he protects. The event of the Périgord tourist season is the re-enactment of the liberation of the historic town of Sarlat from the English in 1370.

But it all goes wrong when the man playing the part of the victorious French general collapses in a pool of blood. The question for chief of police Bruno is was this an accident - or deliberate? The stakes rise when Bruno learns that the man, Kerquelin, was running Frenchelon, the secret French electronic intelligence base nearby, after being recruited from a brilliant Silicon Valley career. As he investigates, Bruno discovers that Kerquelin's wound was faked, that he is alive and well and secretly negotiating a massive deal to build a semi-conductor industry in France.

But then a whole new and dangerous player emerges, determined to nip the deal in the bud.