"It remains very dark and it shows people the other side of our profession": Eric Oliva, former police officer, presents his latest novel in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Éric Oliva is a former police officer who ended his career in Nice. He spent seventeen years with the judicial police. He now enjoys a happy life in Greece's Peloponnese, where he runs a bed and breakfast with his wife. He was visiting the Les Mandarins bookstore to discuss his 11th book, De l'or dans les veines (17 euros), published by Des livres et du rêve. We met him.

What is the pitch of this book?

The majority of my novels take place in Nice, because I like to bring to life the colleagues I met in this city. So these are young women who are found murdered and bloodless . At the same time, there is a real investigation by the criminal brigade, the investigators realize that the bodies are being auctioned on the dark net . It is a very dark crime novel/thriller, second this year in the Prix du Quai des Orfèvres 2025 and a finalist in the Prix de l'évêché.

How did you get the inspiration to write this thriller?

There was no particular inspiration, I try to change the theme every time I write a novel, I went from pure detective novels with legal investigations on drugs, then I did crime, dark novels and then I wanted to do something much darker with the current news. I found that it didn't clash, it remains very gloomy and it shows people the other side of our profession.

Are you drawing on experience?

Yes, there's always a bit of real life. Here, it's fictionalized to be really dark. I think that when you're an author and you've been a police officer, you have to use a bit of your experience to give reality to the books.

An upcoming project?

Yes, I have a book that just went to the publishing house; it will be a historical thriller set in 1164 on the Camino de Santiago. I'm changing universes again. The release is scheduled for April 2026.