For 70 years, Margoujols, a remote village in the remote Lozère region, has been the home of escapees from a traveling circus freak show: a bearded lady, Siamese twin sisters, an elephant man, a dwarf, a giant, and more.

As the story opens, the horrifically mutilated body of Joseph Zimm, a.k.a. lobster man has just been found. Who killed the former circus performer, and, more importantly, why? The investigation, in the competent hands of Sergeant Pascalini, will uncover secrets that have been buried for ages on the slopes of the Gévaudan.

The extraordinary events are narrated by Lucie, a paraplegic young woman who communicates through a computer, and who also happens to be the daughter of the mayor of Margoujols. Assisting the gendarmes in their investigation, she shares wry comments on subjects as wide-ranging as crime fiction, being handicapped, cemeteries, and social networks, for a murder mystery with a serious twist of dark humor.

In this extremely enjoyable parody of the detective-novel genre, Jean-Marcel Erre goes back to the vein of Mystère Sherlock and Prenez soin du chien (Take Care of the Dog), his most popular books, which have been translated into several languages.