In Paris, many citizens go to the precinct after the doors of their apartments have been sprayed with a 4 and the letters "clt". When a dweller is found mysteriously dead in his apartment, Detective Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and his partner Danglard investigate...
Frédéric Lemoyne must be very happy in his life: he is a famous biologist and the son of a hero of French resistance: his father, Marcel Lemoyne, doctor, took care for wounded members of the Resistance and helped them to find hiding places.Every year Jeanne Lemoyne , the elder sister of Frédéric celebrates his heroism in a square of Lyon. But suddenly François discovers a strange bank account in Switzerland.
On the eve of the First World War, the inhabitants of a small village in Corrèze see a strange woman arrive: Cécile Brunie, a young teacher with original methods. Badly perceived from the beginning, the young woman tries as best she can to gather a whole class because since always the children are sent to the farm from their youngest age without being able to go to school. However, Cécile does not give up and decides to fight against ignorance.
The grueling, emotionally torturous world of French preparatory schools provides the framework for this mystery. The deliberately rigorous courses are designed to prepare students to take the brutal examinations for entry into the elite Grand Ecoles, where a select few will gain the skills and education needed to insure a bright, prosperous future for themselves. The story centers on Delphine, a girl from the lower classes, and the upper class Claude. Both young women aspire to attend the Ecole Normale Superieure on the Rue d'Ulm. Delphine lives in humble public housing with her dull mother and two young brothers while Claude, who considers herself a Communist, lives in luxury with her own servant; she is sexually involved with fellow- student, Axel, who thinks himself a fascist.
Based on French writer Colette's 1923 novel, Le Blé en herbe focuses on the changing relationship between childhood friends Vinca and Phillipe. Both are on the verge of adulthood and beginning to recognize romantic feelings for one another when Phillipe meets a lascivious, wealthy older woman named Madam Dellaray. He is torn between his innocent but restricting affection for Vinca and satisfaction of his impatient lust for the new and mature world Madam Dellaray offers.