An ex-rugby player, still remembered for the winning try he scored for France in a Five Nations final against the English at Twickenham, Daniel Jacquot is now a chief inspector, working homicide with the Marseilles Judiciare.

It's here, in this city by the sea, that a shadowy, elusive killer steps on to the field of play, drugging, raping and drowning three young women in as many months. With a new partner, a rising body count and only a three-word tattoo to work with, Jacquot tracks his quarry, gradually closing on a ruthless, yet sometimes eccentric murderer the press have christened The Waterman.