Well over a dozen books in, this series shows no sign of tailing off in quality. True, Benoit ‘Bruno’ Courrèges, the Chief of Police for the Dordogne village of St Denis and the surrounding area, may sometimes seem almost too good to be true. However, the strong cast of characters, the sumptuous descriptions of the amazing meals that Bruno cooks, and the glorious landscape that Walker portrays, together with solid and soundly constructed plots and a regular cast of appealing characters, all make for very enjoyable reading.

Walker is also adept at remaining highly topical. While St Denis and its neighbouring countryside might sometimes seem like an oasis from an earlier time, he peppers his story with a lot of references to contemporary issues. This book touches on the dispute in Ukraine, while focusing more closely on unrest in Spain following the attempted secession of Catalonia from Spanish rule. Fake news and Russian bots are in evidence, and Bruno finds himself once again working with the shadier elements of the French security services.

Another winner. I was glad to have read this, but am sadly conscious that I have now almost caught up with Walker’s output, and will all too soon be right up to date with the sequence. ( )

This is the 15th in a widely enjoyed crime series, centered on Bruno, who has progressed from a junior police officer stationed in the rural St Denis in (France's) Dordogne, to currently being its Chief of Police.

I have enjoyed the series (which I so far have read in publication order, which is important in order to follow the ongoing development of the various characters, including that of their personal relationships) but was disappointed with this one.

The crime aspect is delivered by Spain taking umbrage at the notion of the popularity of a (perceived separatist) Catalonian folk song, even to the extent of banning its distribution within Spain. The writer of that song, as well as the folk band which first makes it popular are (of course!) connected with St Denis, and indeed are due to have an outdoor concert in St Denis in following weeks.

The discovery of a car crash outside St Denis but within Bruno's jurisdiction, leads the investigators to believe that (a) far right wing Spanish sniper(s) are in the vicinity of St Denis.

Bruno, as well as Isabelle (his unrequited love, who appeared in the first book, but who has since moved to Paris to further her career) who has progressed to a position where she manages interactions between security agencies across the EU (given France does not want Spain to tell them what music/songs French citizens can enjoy on their own lands), as well other French national and regional agencies amongst others.

So we get both the full local and non local crew back together!

In addition, we get a crack military unit helicoptered in to assist (shorn of their fatigues and military firearms, and instead dressed as farmers and hunters and armed with (largely) Bruno's personal collection of ancient firearms, so as to not be spotted (by the locals) for who they actually are, for fear that people will panic (the officials have not made their suspicions public).

There is an altercation in which Bruno and the incognito military participate, resulting in one of the bad buys being shot/caught.

And it is this that precipitates what I regard as a silly/incredulous plot line....the military are shipped out the very same day! And yet the concert is only days away; there is evidence that there are at least 2 remaining members of the insurgents unaccounted for; and Bruno and others are continuing to wonder what the insurgents might have been planning ...was it aimed at disrupting the concert (and if not by snipers, how?) or something else. In that case the indecent haste in repatriating the military assets seems to me nonsensical (particularly as we are taking only a few days to the holding of the concert).

Bruno of course saves the day in the end.

There are a number of side bars in the book, which move on the story of the regular local characters, which are interested in a 'people' way but do nothing as to the crime aspect of the book, other than to emphasise the various calls on Bruno's time and attention. Indeed, this book seems closest to a 50/50 split between the crime and people aspects, whereas earlier books in the series have been leaning more at the crime aspects (or perhaps in this book, the people aspects have not been as well integrated with the crime aspects and hence seem more 'add-on'. I accept that these comments reveal my preference for the crime aspects, but I came to this series as a crime series, and that has coloured my thoughts.

I think this is the weakest in the series to date.

There are still some to go in the series, but this review (by itself) will not convince me to not continue with it. And i would not want this review to influence people to not even start the series (from the beginning). It has been fun along the way, and here's hoping Walker gets back to his usual standard soon.

Big Ship

19 September 2023 ( )

Marry Florence!! Enough already!! ( )

Bruno and all the others prepare to host a music festival in St. Denis. The featured artist is a target of Spanish nationalists, and law enforcement need to find those intending to kill. The assailants appear to be armed with long-range weaponry. Is it even safe for the festival to go on? I enjoy the village life depicted in these novels, but they certainly seem to have a lot of international crime in this small community. ( )

It's always fun to spend time with Bruno and his friends. I wish, though, that sometimes Walker would give us a case that doesn't have international implications (thus allowing him to drag Isabelle into the story)! That being said, I actually found this book informative as well as fun, having known very little about the Occitan culture and history. ( )