Stephan M Arleaux

Torn Photo Stephan M Arleaux

A story of Noir intrigue that travels across Europe in the true spirit of a good mystery. There are shootings, burglaries, romances, escapes from prisons, and intricate conspiracies that may surprise and leave you scratching your head as you try to solve this "whodunit". In the best tradition of a good mystery however, you may need to wait for the final chapters to discover the truth. This is a complex criminal conspiracy set in 1905. The story travels across England, Scotland, Italy, Finland and Russia. While some of it touches on conditions in Czarist Russia before Bloody Sunday, the spying going on has little to do with official espionage. Steve Craft, an Englishman living in Italy and serving as an acting consul, becomes the victim of a hoax when a visiting countryman invites him for dinner on a luxurious yacht. On board, he finds the photo of a lovely young woman, torn in pieces. Then he returns to shore to find the consulate's safe burgled. The yacht, meanwhile, has set sail for parts unknown. Later, Craft meets the yachtsman in Scotland under a different name, and finds out the young woman of the photo holds a deadly secret, to both her and his own peril. The mystery holds to the very end, Time: 1905 Place: Russia, at sea and beyond