Bonjour from Paris, And first of all a huge merci to everyone who has emailed me over the past couple of years asking when the next Merde novel was coming out. Here it is, and thanks for asking. This time, I wanted to get Paul West back to Paris. I thought he was having it a bit too much of la belle vie on the south coast of France in Dial M for Merde. So now he\'s subletting a tiny top-floor garret, with no job and no love interest except an ex who seems to be stalking him. To make things even more annoying for him, I decided it might be fun for him to try and become a civil servant, one of the chosen few of French society who, ever since they were created by Napoleon, have been ruling the country like so many mini-emperors. I also owe a big vote of thanks to the man who nearly became the top civil servant of all - Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Because when the now-infamous French politician was arrested in New York in May 2011, I was battling with a dilemma. I wanted Paul West\'s former boss, the lecherous Jean-Marie, to get into trouble for sexually harassing one of Paul\'s friends. My problem was that, at the time, it wasn\'t the done thing for young women to complain when their boss, or indeed a famous politician, got busy with his wandering hands. They were meant to say \"c\'est la vie\" and accept it as one of the privileges of French power. Then the New York police showed everyone how to deal with an allegation of sexual assault, and suddenly France changed. Almost overnight, it was credible for Jean-Marie\'s young employee to take her revenge, and my plot took off. And finally, the biggest merci has to go to my fellow Parisians, for continuing to be as Parisian as ever. It doesn\'t matter how depressed they are about elections, Europe or who won the Tour de France, they\'re always supremely entertaining. I hope The Merde Factor does them justice. Stephen Clarke, Paris, August 2012..