Bruno, Chief of Police (Hardcover)

by Martin Walker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Policing in Chief Bruno Courrèges's sun-dappled patch of Périgord involves protecting local fromages from E.U. hygiene inspectors, orchestrating village parades and enjoying the obligatory leisurely lunch—that is, until the brutal murder of an elderly Algerian immigrant instantly jolts Walker's second novel (after The Caves of Périgord) from provincial cozy to timely whodunit. As a high-powered team of investigators, including a criminally attractive female inspector, invade sleepy St. Denis to forestall any anti-Arab violence, the amiable Bruno must begin regarding his neighbors—or should we say potential suspects—in a rather different light. Without sacrificing a soupçon of the novel's smalltown charm or its characters' endearing quirkiness, Walker deftly drives his plot toward a dark place where old sins breed fresh heartbreak. Walker, a foreign affairs journalist, is also the author of such nonfiction titles as The Iraq War and America Reborn. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Walker does a wonderful job of bringing la France profonde to life - Mail on Sunday. This is a crime novel that is also a lovely, lyrical and frequently comic evocation of rural France - Allan Massie in The Scotsman. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition. states edition (March 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307270173
• ISBN-13: 978-0307270177
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,630 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super investigative cozy , March 28, 2009

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In rustic Perigord, France, Police Officer Benoit "Bruno" Courreges is very popular amidst the villagers mostly for his lifestyle; he lives like they do in a shepherd's cottage and shopping at the local market. As a cop he has arresting authority, but never uses it as his presence leads to guilt and everyone behaving. He assumes his most significant job is to protect the local merchants and farms from the European Union pests.

However, a homicide of an elderly French WWII veteran from Algeria upsets the former soldier turned village cop. The murder is bad enough, but the swastika carved on the victim's chest angers Bruno. As he investigates a horde of homicide detectives and crime experts from Paris try to take over the case from him, but he refuses to allow them to lead. Initially members of the violent anti-immigrant National Front are the prime suspects, but soon with a help of a scholar, Bruno begins to look back to WWII for the culprit.

The second Porigord thriller (see THE CAVES OF PORIGORD) is a super investigative cozy that brings to life a small rustic village. The villagers including Bruno are priceless as their eccentricity and their outlook towards the EU as unwelcome intruders forcing the local heroes to be "smugglers" enhance the clever whodunit. Martin Walker cleverly links five decade old transgressions to a modern day homicide as fans will say oui oui to BRUNO CHIEF OF POLICE.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loving murder mystery, April 5, 2009

By	B. Jacobsen "whsy82" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's a bit odd admittedly to describe a murder mystery as "loving" but half this book is a love letter to the Dordogne, its small towns and in particular its cuisine. It's akin to Inspector Montalbano mystery series in Sicily, but instead of exotic criminals invading a paradise,it's an indigenous mystery. Perhaps its waxes a bit too elegaic to the region, but I much enjoyed the tale.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Summer Vacation, July 7, 2009

By	Woodrow Benson (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews

If you can't afford that vacation in the south of France this year, Bruno may be the next best thing. Walker does a wonderful job of evoking life in a small town in the Dordogne--its cuisine and odd characters, its humdrum rhythms--through the life of its shrewd, affable chief of police, the distinctively French rural bon vivant, Bruno. For good measure, Walker throws in interesting angles on everything from French bureaucracy to tensions between Muslim immigrants and the native population. A bit slow to start because of the luxuriant scene setting, the book quickly picks up and the pages fly by.