On an August 4-5th night in 1952, a British couple and their 10 year old daughter, John, Anne, and Elizabeth Drummond were murdered in a lay-by in Provence, France. John was a scientist and a British biochemist who was knighted for naming of vitamins and British diet nutrition under wartime rationing during Second World War. His murder had been known as the Dominici affair but there is much speculation over the identity of the murderer and the motive behind the crime. This was a very interesting book and I enjoyed reading about the murder. The author, Rene Weis, did a great job with research and explaining everything that happened. A local farmer had been arrested as the murderer. He is Gaston Dominici, 73 years old, and was convicted, sentenced to death by guillotine. President Rene Coty commuted the sentence to life imprisonment and in 1959 President Charles DeGaulle ordered Dominici released on humanitarian grounds. He was not pardoned and did not received another trial. If you like true crime books then you would love this book. You need to read this for yourself and see what you think. Was John Drummond on a spy mission or was he a victim of the farmer?

I was not familiar with this case but what a fascinating one it is. The author does an amazing job of describing the two families whose fates become entwined through these terrible events. Clearly a thorough research job, the author has taken the job seriously and presents a clear and detailed overview of the case.

I had never heard of this haunting horrific strange murder of a British family in France..A really horrible heat wrenching story.#netgalley#troubadour

I knew nothing about these events until reading this book. How truly weird, scary, and heartbreaking for an entire family to be murdered on the side of the road! One of the worst things about the case is how there is no real closure, as people are still arguing about the crime.

A murder in France of a British family. While horrid, of course, there isn't much to say. The perps seem to have been local French peasants. Why the one guy did it, or the few did it, seems to be your basic motive. Take a guess. Then there';s not much else to say.

A well researched and interesting case of an infamous case known widely to the French and English. This was a new story for me and I found it to be very appealing as I love to read stories from times forgotten. It's such a tragedy, especially since a child was involved. The author did a very good job at presenting all the facts as well as background information on the people involved. Always a bonus for me is there are pictures. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ill Met by Moonlight is the fascinating and shocking story of the murder of the Drummond family ,who were holidaying in Provence in 1952. Famous Scientist Sir Jack Drummond ,his wife Anne and 10 year-old Daughter Elizabeth had the misfortune to camp in a lay-by next to the property of the dysfunctional Dominici family, short on morality, strangers to honesty and borderline feral.

When the 3 bodies are found the spotlight falls on the Dominicis and despite the horrendous nature of the crime and strong evidence pointing straight at them they close ranks and churn out obvious lie after obvious lie,they were, to be blunt ,truly disgusting people. Finally justice is done,albeit with the perpetrator getting a surprisingly easy time in prison and even more surprisingly released on humanitarian grounds a few years later,

Author Rene Weis has done an excellent job of detailing the awful events of the night the Drummonds were murdered,not least complicated timeline of the odd behaviour of the Dominicis and the sights reported by various passers-by.
While barely remembered in Britain once the story left the headlines it's been a source of controversy in France for decades and engendered several bizarre conspiracy theories and plenty of debate over the guilt or innocence of members of the Dominici family.

A gripping, meticulously researched and well-written book.