They never look at the old people. That’s their biggest mistake.

At 71, Marguerite Valcourt (aka MargotShe thought she was done with global conspiracies. Settled in her villa on the French Riviera between her bridge games and her one-eyed cat, this former legend of the secret services is bored to death.

Until the day a coded message hidden inside a sea bream reaches him from the Chilean desert: his former teammate has been unmasked by Pure PlanetThe foundation of a billionaire environmentalist with a saintly air. Behind its humanitarian rhetoric, the organization is deliberately depleting the planet’s resources with giant towers to privatize and resell water at exorbitant prices.

20 VETERANS. 40 EUROS OF BUDGET. AN ARSENAL OF HARDWARE.

Attacked by a squad of hyper-connected mercenaries, Margot activates the formidable Protocol Twenty and recalls the 19 other retirees from the Veteran Mission Force (VMF). Subject to a strict ban on using modern equipment, this shock army has no weapons other than wire, explosive sardines, customized wheelchairs and unparalleled experience.

Why you’ll love this novel:

• Sharp humor: The hilarious clash between high-tech connectivity and old-fashioned resourcefulness.
• Unforgettable characters: A team of colorful, endearing, mischievous and formidably efficient septuagenarians.
• A breathless pace: An adventure spanning the four corners of the world that blends action, suspense, and comedy feel-good.

Ideal for fans of humorous spy novels, cozy mysteries and thrilling adventures!

Order your copy today and dive into the VMF’s first mission!

 

1. Full synopsis (Overall plot & resolution)

Deep in the heart of Chile’s Atacama Desert, 83-year-old Eulogio Condori watches the rain systematically evaporate five kilometers from a mysterious white tower erected by the “Pure Planet” ecological foundation, headed by media billionaire Octave Lambrechts. Fernand Morel, nicknamed “Sardine,” a former secret agent working undercover as a horticulturalist, uncovers the truth: the foundation is using “MIRAGE” tower technology to deliberately dry up several regions of the globe in order to force states to sign the “Pure Water” agreements and buy demineralized water at the World Water Summit in Monaco on March 22nd.

Captured and locked in a glass cell at the Mother Tower, Fernand manages to extract a coded message hidden inside a sea bream, addressed to Marguerite Valcourt (“Margot”), 71, former head of operations of the Veteran Mission Force (VMF), now retired in Trayas in the Var region. Margot discovers Fernand’s photos and records. Alerted, Colonel Dagmar Brandt, head of security at Lambrechts, sends a squad of six tech-savvy young mercenaries (the “Notifiers”) to neutralize Margot. Thanks to homemade traps devised with her loyal Senegalese friend Augustin Ndiaye (“Uncle Gus”) and her heavily equipped wheelchair (“The Panther”), Margot humiliates the assailants by spraying them with relaxing lavender mist and covering them in olive oil and mimosa.

Understanding the scale of the global threat and lacking official resources, Margot obtains from the Council of Nine the exceptional activation of the Protocol Twenty, which reauthorizes the simultaneous mobilization of the 20 retired VMF agents scattered around the world. But a strict constraint is imposed: the The three-hardware rulerequiring that all equipment used be purchased exclusively from a hardware store, drugstore or haberdashery, for a ridiculously low budget of €40 per agent.

Across the globe (The Hague, Turin, Paris, Tromsø, Zermatt, Budapest, Dakar, Casablanca, Seville, Cambridge, Valparaíso, Rio, Quebec City, Kyoto, Busan, Bangalore, Wellington), the veterans receive the secret signal (“The mimosa is blooming”) and return to action with their unique skills and ingenious contraptions. Gathering incognito in Saint-Raphaël under the guise of a “Fourth International Congress of Bridge Veterans,” these underestimated septuagenarians are preparing their counterattack. Divided into five specialized teams designed to neutralize each round (Atacama, Doñana, Svalbard, Turkana, and the Monaco gala), the VMF veterans are preparing to prove to the world that “nobody ever looks at the old guys,” making their invisibility their most formidable power.

2. Publisher’s Summary (Back Cover)

“They never look at old people. That’s their biggest mistake.”

At 71, Marguerite Valcourt – Margot to her friends – is thoroughly bored in her villa in the Var region, spending her time playing solitary bridge and caring for her one-eyed cat. A former legend of the secret service, she thought she had finally retired… until the day a coded message hidden inside a sea bream reaches her from the Chilean desert.

An old friend has just been captured by “Pure Planet,” the foundation of a billionaire environmentalist with a saintly air. Behind his humanitarian rhetoric, the businessman is orchestrating an artificial global drought using giant towers to privatize and resell the planet’s water.

Faced with a private army of highly connected and highly trained young mercenaries, Margot has neither a budget nor official support. But that doesn’t matter: she activates the Protocol Twenty and recalls the 19 other veterans of the Veteran Mission Force (VMF) scattered across the globe. Their arsenal? Wire, sardines in oil, glue, customized wheelchairs and an unshakeable composure.

When old-school espionage clashes with high technology, revenge is a dish best served with plenty of humor and zero pity.

3. Extended Pitch (Sales Presentation / Press Kit)

Four months without a crisis, without a conspiracy, and without a coded message: for 71-year-old Margot Valcourt, former head of clandestine operations for the VMF, retirement in Trayas feels like a punishment. But when her fishmonger delivers a sea bream containing a roll of film and three desperate words (“MIRAGE. FIVE TURNS. MARCH 22”), the old spy’s blood boils.

His friend Fernand Morel, 76, was exposed in Chile while investigating the “Pure Planet” foundation. Headed by Octave Lambrechts, a darling of the environmental media, the organization is secretly deploying atmospheric modulation pylons capable of annihilating clouds. The goal? To create devastating droughts and sell its “Pure Water” to thirsty nations at the World Water Summit in Monaco.

Attacked in her own home by an elite unit of the foundation—young mercenaries addicted to GPS and social media—Margot neutralizes them using a combination of olive oil, water jets, and lavender mist. Aware of the danger, she convinces the Council of Nine to activate the Protocol Twenty : the recall of the 20 retired VMF agents (average age: 72 years).

Subject to the “Three Hardware Stores Rule,” which prohibits all modern equipment and limits expenses to €40 per person, this army of hard-working grandpas and grandmas is organizing itself. From a chemist who enjoys explosive sardines to a 74-year-old Japanese contortionist, and including a Quebec rally driver who travels at 30 km/h, these forgotten heroes are gathering in Saint-Raphaël under the guise of a bridge convention.

Operation Mimosa is a fast-paced, warm and captivating spy comedy that contrasts the wisdom and resourcefulness of the old school with the pitfalls of the hyper-connected modern world.

4. Author’s Statement of Intent

“The idea ofOperation Mimosa It was born from a simple and cruel observation: in our contemporary society obsessed with youth, speed and digital technology, the elderly are gradually becoming invisible. They are underestimated, they are put in boxes, we forget that they have lived several lives, sometimes extraordinary ones.

I wanted to overturn this paradigm through the genre of the spy novel. What happens when the modern, ultra-technological world, dependent on algorithms, clashes with septuagenarians who survived the Cold War with a paperclip, a roll of string, and unparalleled intuition?

Through the Veteran Mission ForceI explore the clash of generations with a kind but sharp sense of humor. Modern mercenaries can no longer find their way without a digital compass; my veterans, on the other hand, know how to read the sky, manipulate crowds, and craft formidable gadgets in a simple drugstore.. Operation Mimosa It is at once a tribute to the adventure and espionage novels of yesteryear, a fast-paced feel-good action book, and a joyful reminder: experience and camaraderie remain the best weapons in the world.