Web Mortem is a 2009 novel by the French author Christine Adamo

Christine Adamo

Christine Adamo is a French writer who comes from the world of the sciences. Specialized in environmental information, she writes thrillers which cross science, history and suspense.-Novels:...

.

Plot

St Andrews

St Andrews

St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 is the scene of several horrible murders. All the victims are people from the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and without any legal papers.

Hammond MacLeod, a young and distinguished dean at University of St Andrews

University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...

, soon finds the body of his current mistress as well. Has he harbored a secret motive for killing her so atrociously? Why does he spend so much time on this online game

Online game

An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...

? Soon, he realizes that he cannot deal with suspicion anymore. He runs away to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, helped by Willow Owen, a young American reporter.

But behind the web, the killer is lurking. In order to be cleared, Hammond must delve into the online game. This one, by featuring Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

's darkest and oldest history, asks online

ONLINE

ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

 players to designate the next victim. And soon, Hammond and Willow are caught in the game.

When they understand it is linked to the landscapes of ancient languages as well as to passionate but destructive human relationships, it is too late...

Release details

• 2009, France, Albin Michel, ISBN 9-782226-190956, Pub date 4 June 2009