Chief Inspector Pel is taking a well-deserved break from detective work, and setting off for his honeymoon with his new wife, Geneviève. Surely there’s nothing more relaxing than an island getaway, and a bout of ferocious seasickness on the ferry journey there is a small price to pay. But the newlyweds’ holiday plans are disrupted when a local taxi driver is murdered on their first night. More puzzling is his attempt to reach Pel before the brutal killing and his message is one of murder, arson and smuggling. Can Pel break the silence surrounding the Islanders, and catch the killer? Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly about his health, Inspector Pel ensures that no case goes unsolved, in these mordantly witty French mysteries. Praise for the Inspector Pel Mystery series: ‘Totally convincing.’ Financial Times ‘Mr Hebden has created a nice band of flics.’ Oxford Times ‘Pel and his procedurals are some of the best things since Maigret.’ Observer ‘Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel, as well rounded a character as Maigret or Van der Valk.’ Punch ‘Impeccable French ambience, unexaggerated flics, and a well-constructed solution. Hebden proves again that few understand Gallic cops better than English writers!’ The Times ‘Some characters grow as their saga lengthens and Pel... is one of them. You might say he is ripening along with the grapes.’ Police Review ‘...written with downbeat humour and some delightful dialogue.’ Financial Times ‘...all is most cunningly contrived and dovetailed into a coherent plot.’ Irish Times ‘A thoroughly entertaining read.’ Evening Standard ‘The best Gallic sleuth since Maigret.’ London Mystery Selection

A double shooting of two ageing crooks leads Chief Inspector Pel following the trail all the way to Mexico. Pel and his detectives know how, when and by whom they were murdered; but they must discover why. Away from his beloved Burgundy, Pel is given a quick course in the history of the French intervention in Mexico during the 1860s. A brief spell among the Pueblos, and a shoot-out under a moonless sky eventually bring him his reward. Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly about his health, Inspector Pel ensures that no case goes unsolved, in these mordantly witty French mysteries. Praise for the Inspector Pel Mystery series: ‘Totally convincing.’ Financial Times ‘Mr Hebden has created a nice band of flics.’ Oxford Times ‘Pel and his procedurals are some of the best things since Maigret.’ Observer ‘Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel, as well rounded a character as Maigret or Van der Valk.’ Punch ‘Impeccable French ambience, unexaggerated flics, and a well-constructed solution. Hebden proves again that few understand Gallic cops better than English writers!’ The Times ‘Some characters grow as their saga lengthens and Pel... is one of them. You might say he is ripening along with the grapes.’ Police Review ‘...written with downbeat humour and some delightful dialogue.’ Financial Times ‘...all is most cunningly contrived and dovetailed into a coherent plot.’ Irish Times ‘A thoroughly entertaining read.’ Evening Standard ‘The best Gallic sleuth since Maigret.’ London Mystery Selection

There has been a sudden spate of murders around Burgundy where Pel has just been promoted to Chief Inspector. The irascible policeman receives a letter bomb, and these combined events threaten to overturn Pel's plans to marry Mme Faivre-Perret. Can Pel keep his life, his love and his career by solving the murder mysteries? Can Pel stave off the predators?

Chief Inspector Pel has been kidnapped. Or is he being held for ransom, traded for the release of prisoners, or perhaps murdered? He is, in any event, missing. To make matters worse, there is a prison escape, a fantastic robbery from a gunroom, and a collection of diamonds is stolen from a jeweller’s safe.

The Study Group on a European Civil Code has taken upon itself the task of drafting common European principles for the most important aspects of the law of obligations and for certain parts of the law of property in movables which are especially relevant for the functioning of the common market. Like the Commission on European Contract Law's "Principles of European Contract Law", the results of the research conducted by the Study Group on a European Civil Code seek to advance the process of Europeanisation of private law. Among other topics the series tackles sales and service contracts, distribution contracts and security rights, renting contracts and loan agreements, negotiorum gestio, delicts and unjustified enrichment law, transfer of property, and trust law. The principles furnish each of the national jurisdictions a grid reference. They can be agreed upon by the parties within the framework of the rules of private international law. They may provide a stimulus to both the national and European legislator for moulding private law. Beyond this, they aim to further discussion about the creation of a European Civil Code, or a Common Frame of Reference in the area of patrimonial law, by submitting a concrete model. The "Principles of European Law" are published in co-operation with Stämpfli, Bern (Switzerland). For other co-operation-partners and for more information see www.sellier.de.

The rules presented in this volume of "Principles of European Law" deal with commercial agency, franchise and distribution contracts, and with other contracts where one party uses the other party's skill and efforts to bring its products to the market. Although these Principles are not directly applicable to other long-term (commercial) contracts, some of the Articles may be applied to such contracts by way of analogy where appropriate. The economic function of all three contracts is that they are instrumental in bringing products to the market. They are so-called vertical agreements, as they are agreements between economic actors on different levels in the production and distribution chain. Obviously, the economic importance of these contracts is enormous since they form the connection between producers and retailers who sell the products to consumers and other final users. There are only very few economic sectors where producers regularly sell their products directly to final consumer users. Goodwill compensation after the ending of a distribution contract, the moment at which the agent's commission is due, the franchisor's obligation to maintain the good reputation of the network are but a few examples of issues where specific rules are needed in order to give legal practice some guidance and to provide practitioners with a reasonable degree of legal certainty.