The Drummond Affair (Paperback)

Murder and Mystery in Provence

Stephanie Matthews

Daniel Smith

'A serious reinvestigation full of revealing background information that sheds additional light on what was then and now remains a shocking crime' Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking

'This riveting, eye-opening investigation of a 70-year-old murder mystery reads like a whodunit … A true crime must-read' Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream

'As much social history as it is gripping true crime' Jeremy Craddock, author of The Jigsaw Murders

'A meticulously researched re-examination' Caitlin Davies, author of Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths

1950s France. A British establishment figure. A shocking crime. A miscarriage of justice. The search for truth.

In 1952, in a peaceful corner of Provence, a farmer's son stumbled upon a terrible scene. Three bodies: a husband and wife shot dead, their ten-year-old daughter savagely beaten to death. They were all British. So begins one of the most notorious murder cases in French history.

Sir Jack Drummond was a senior advisor to the British government, a household name who was respected and admired. His fame made the case a cause célèbre in France and resulted in the swift conviction of a local farmer, but questions about Drummond's life and death remain unanswered.

In this bold new investigation, Stephanie Matthews and Daniel Smith strip away the prejudice and propaganda to reveal a grave miscarriage of justice. A light is shone on Drummond's secret life in the shadows of the Cold War, painting a portrait of an enigmatic man who may not have been the innocent holidaymaker he appeared to be, and recasting one of the twentieth century's most notorious murders in a fascinating and important new light.

Stephanie Matthews is a doctor who specialised in medical biochemistry and cofounded The Darwin Centre and The Young Darwinian. A consummate Francophile, when Stephanie came across the Drummond murders, she found a man who was not only a father figure in her specialties of biochemistry and nutrition but also a hero of the Second World War.

Daniel Smith has written over thirty non-fiction titles, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. His most recent narrative non-fiction includes The Peer and the Gangster (long-listed for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger) and Scandal at Dolphin Square.