Preview: In his latest adventure Bruno, France’s favourite country cop, investigates a long-buried war crime and faces a devastating flood that threatens the town he polices and the people he loves.
The long arm of history reaches into the present in Bruno’s latest case when three sets of bones are discovered, buried deep in the woods outside the Dordogne town of St Denis. It appears that the remains have lain there since World War 2. Bruno must investigate who the bones belong to and whether their burial amounts to a war crime.
Bruno has other concerns too. After weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne river has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through St Denis, bringing the threat of a devastating flood.
As ever, Bruno must rely on his wits, tenacity and people skills to ensure that past wrongs don’t result in present violence, and to keep his little town and its inhabitants safe from harm.
Review
This is Martin Walker’s 17th book in the series about Bruno, Chief of Police series – the French gourmet copy who lives in Dordogne. It can be read as a standalone if you haven’t read the previous 16 books, but it is better as part of the series.
If you’re already a Bruno fan, you can expect a classic Bruno story with a mix of fabulous food descriptions thrown in as well – though not as much cooking in this book as in some previous stories, as well as glorious descriptions of the countryside. Martin’s books definitely make you hungry and long to visit the stunning French countryside of Dordogne where he lives half of the year and where his books are based. It’s not a fast-paced book, that’s not what these stories are about, but they take you to the heart of village life in France even though of course it’s unlikely that there would be quite so much going on as in Bruno’s French village!
There are lots of detailed historical facts, politics, climate change message etc after all, Martin Walker is also a journalist and US bureau chief for The Guardian Newspaper in London. As always, the people and the town of St Denis (a fictional place in Dordogne) are the backdrop to the thriller. It’s an engaging, interesting story, complicated plot, heavy with history, well researched and excellent writing as always.
Read Martin Walker’s article about his favourite place in Dordogne in our free magazine The Good Life France Magazine issue 40
