Xavier-Marie Bonnot has a PhD in History and Sociology, and two Masters degrees in History and French Literature. The Beast of the Camargue is the second of the De Palma investigations, following The First Fingerprint. The Beast of the Camargue won the 2004 Roman Policier Award. Ian Monk is the award-winning translator of the Daniel Pennac Belleville Quintet and a member of Oulipo.