In the second and concluding volume of Le fruit le plus doux (The Sweetest Fruit), the apparently peaceful world of Sweetville is turned inside out. Ronald and Larry’s rivalry over the annual fruit competition remains at the centre of the story, but the secrets surrounding them – and many of the town’s other inhabitants – are finally brought into the open.

Part 2 reveals what lies behind the carefully constructed façade established in the first volume. The town’s residents include the flirtatious waitress Linda, the wealthy and sexually adventurous Pamela, the troubled artist Walsh, the anxious Nancy, and a number of other characters whose apparently respectable lives conceal complicated desires and painful histories.

The story also introduces a darker dimension to the mystery. The relationship between Ronald and Larry is rooted in a shared past, while other characters are forced to confront consequences they have spent years avoiding. Social conventions and prejudices become increasingly important as Di Caro explores the restrictions of the 1950s setting alongside its sexual freedoms and hypocrisies.

As the various strands converge, Le fruit le plus doux becomes more than an erotic small-town drama. Di Caro combines eroticism, mystery, social observation and elements of the fantastic, using the secrets of Sweetville to explore the difference between the lives people present to the world and the desires and experiences they keep hidden. His elegant, richly coloured artwork provides an appropriately seductive setting and backdrop.

Le fruit le plus doux 2 is published by Tabou. There is also a German translation, Die süßeste aller Früchte 2, published by Splitter Verlag, and a Dutch translation, Het zoetste fruit 2, by Dark Dragon Books, but no English translation.