Bruno, Chief of Police

January 5, 2009
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
.

Bruno does not leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but we know that he could if he wished to. Narrator Robert MacKenzie offers a subtle, understated reading, which reinforces the protagonist's charms in this French mystery. As Bruno, chief of police in a rural Dordogne town, investigates the murder of an elderly Muslim immigrant, we expect that he will succeed and that all the local women will fall for him. We are not disappointed. The story is as much about relations between natives and immigrants, and between Paris and rural France, as it is about the murder; which is fine, as the amusing writing and easy narration will appeal to many. Also, recommended for Francophiles, whether mystery fans or not. R.E.K. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine