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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Less blood and gore, more wine ... and still great fun, July 17, 2010
Saint-Denis is a fictional village in the Dordogne in southwestern France. Communal ceremonies have a timeless feel: "pagan but somehow deeply familiar . . . as though this was how all celebrations and events must have been in the past, centuries of roasted lambs and fires and wine, before the age of electricity." Benoît "Bruno" Courrèges is the only member of the Police Municipale in town. He investigates an arson fire which destroys a research station where genetically modified crops are being grown. Bruno suspects militant environmentalists. But then two people die by inhaling the carbon dioxide from fermenting grapes. Saint-Denis itself is at war with itself; a California winery wants to develop the village commercially. Bruno wants to save Saint-Denis but also sees the need for more jobs to preserve the status quo. "There are some things more valuable than money," he says. A friend: "A strange kind of policeman you are." Both of these main themes -- opposition to GM crops and commercial development -- are based on real life events. EU official daily debate the adverse effects of "frankenfoods", on the one hand, and their purported benefits -- higher yields, resist pests and disease better and require less fertilizer and pesticide. French nationalists have successfully defeated the attempts of California wineries to acquire French vineyards, sometimes using violence. Set in the beautiful Southwest, this mystery has charm and local color, and teaches a bit of social responsibility along with its low key detecting. Robert C. Ross 2010
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You will be transported, enchanted, enthralled and informed, July 20, 2010
Bruno is back! I missed him terribly. Martin Walker's vividly etched character and the charming French countryside town of Saint-Denis won my heart in "Bruno, Chief of Police." Immediately addicted, I joined both mystery fans and armchair-tourists worldwide in eagerly awaiting the second in what we could only hope would soon become an endless series of Bruno-based novels. Why then did the publisher not include Bruno's name somewhere in the title/subtitle of this excellent sequel? From a branding and marketing perspective, it made no sense. But that's a trifling complaint compared to the riches "The Dark Vineyard" offers both the senses and a curious mind. Walker doesn't disappoint. Once again, he's created a novel that is sensuous and suspense-filled as it is inviting and informative. By the last chapter (which, I confess, my pent-up curiosity demanded I peek at), I had effortlessly become knowledgeable about the hotly debated GMO controversy, international trade and economics, oenology, crime scene investigations, the art of the truffle omelette, French law, corporate espionage, the universality of local politics, and, most acutely observed, human nature. "Bruno wondered whether it was the policeman in him that made him so interested in how other people presented themselves to others. In his own experience, and indeed in his own case, what the public saw was often very different from the real person, but it was full of useful clues about the way the person would truly like to be. Bruno would love to be as calm and self-confident as he had taught himself to seem, and to be even a fraction as wise and patient as he sought to be appear." Thanks to my new Kindle I didn't have to wait for the U.S. hardcover release. However you read "The Dark Vineyard," you'll find yourself transported, enchanted, enthralled and informed - reunited with characters and a town that quickly become the good friends and home away from home that every traveler and every reader hopes to find. Two questions: When can I read the third novel? Which actor should portray Bruno? (If Kevin Kline were 35, he'd be my first choice.)
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Enjoyable, July 23, 2010
This is not one of those fast-paced mysteries where the plot develops at a break-neck speed offering twists and turns every couple of pages. This books is not meant to be gulped down in one sitting. Rather, it is to be savored little by little like a glass of good wine, which incidentally plays an important role in the novel. Martin Walker takes his time introducing us to his engrossing cast of characters and to the quirky locale where the action takes place. This makes the book very unusual and extremely enjoyable. You really get to know what life is like in a small village in France. You feel like you personally get to experience the colors, the smells, the tastes, and the textures of Saint-Denis. Bruno, the rural policeman who is the main character of the series, is a very interesting and likeable person. In a way, this book reminded me of Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series because it also explores how modernization and globalization transform the traditional ways of life in rural areas. Another similarity is that both series place a social issue in the center of each mystery (in this case, the struggle of French ecologists against GMOs). I am very glad that I discovered the series and will definitely check out the first book that has Bruno as its main character.
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