Starred review from March 16, 2020
In Walker’s outstanding 13th outing for St. Denis, France, chief of police Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges (after 2019’s The Body in the Castle Well), 70ish retired rock star Rod Macrae, his much younger wife, and their college-age children, Jamie and Kirsty, are spending a last summer together at their country house, Château Rock, before the parents amicably divorce. Jamie is joined by his girlfriend, Galina, a Russian oligarch’s daughter. When a sheep farmer dies and his children learn that they’ve been disinherited, Bruno investigates. He soon suspects there’s a connection between the farmer’s suspicious death and Galina’s father, whose shadowy shell businesses may be a cover for illicit activity throughout the Mediterranean and the E.U. Meanwhile, the obliging Bruno helps plan and prepare meals, teaches children to swim, and considers breeding his pedigree hunting dog. Francophiles will relish the evocative descriptions of the Périgord region and its cuisine. Distinctive characters complement the intricate mystery. Readers new to this elegant series will feel right at home. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Gernert Agency.
March 15, 2020
Bruno Courr�ges investigates an insurance scam as languidly as only he can. As chief of police for the town of St. Denis in the Dordogne, Bruno must investigate every complaint of every citizen, even when it isn't clear that a crime has taken place. Still, as a citizen himself of that region of France he considers unrivaled in beauty, culture, and cuisine, his investigation into the death of the elderly farmer Driant at the urging of Driant's son, Gaston, moves at a pace leisurely enough for him to spend the requisite time cooking impossibly tender lamb shanks for a group of friends who gather for dinner each Monday night. Bruno does think it odd that Driant mortgaged his farm shortly before his death to buy an insurance policy that would have assured him a place at Ch�teau Marmont, a luxury retirement home, had he lived long enough to actually move in. But his probe must also leave time for alfresco dining with old friend and aging British rock star Rod Macrae and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Meghan, who are selling their pied-a-terre in France prior to the divorce. And of course, there's the first mating of Bruno's basset hound, Balzac, an event so momentous that he invites Isabelle, the love of his life, from Paris (which she will not leave to be with him and where he will not go to be with her) to watch. While waiting for the eventual crime to be solved, readers can revel in the wonders of the Dordogne, even if witnessing a doggie defloration may be a bridge too far for some. Falling-off-the-bone French at its ne plus ultra.
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Starred review from April 1, 2020
Two ch�teaus in France's Dordogne region?one an exclusive retirement home, the other the sumptuous residence of a Paul McCartney-like British rock star?form the backdrop of elaborate international schemes and scams in the latest Bruno, Chief of Police, novel. The real attraction here (and in every Bruno novel) isn't the mystery, the solving of which is relegated to odd moments in Bruno's schedule. No, the real star of any Bruno mystery is the chief's enviable lifestyle. He lives on a low-maintenance farm surrounded by hills and woods, through which he exercises his horse every day. He belongs to a weekly supper club; pages upon pages are devoted to Bruno's meal prep and the feast itself. He eats wonderful lunches and dinners with friends, he swims, he coaches tennis. Sometimes he goes to the office and makes calls. In the latest, he uncovers a host of Ukrainians and Russians tied to a real-estate scheme; he does this through his connections and through his frequent visits to the aging rock star's ch�teau. Somewhat surprisingly, the climax of this leisurely tale is exciting, despite feeling a bit tacked on. The Bruno novels are more for foodies and Francophiles than for police-procedural fans, but, in their meal-procedural way, they're completely delicious.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)