Saturday, May 3, 2014

Mini shout: Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

 I recently discovered this series thanks to online friends at LibraryThing.com.  The first of the series, subtitled "A Novel of the French Countryside" was as pleasant a read as a stroll through a small French town and a stop at a local bistro for wine and cheese, or a cafe au lait with a brioche.
  
Benoît (Bruno) Courrèges, is not only chief of police of a small village in the south of France, he's the ONLY policeman. He knows everyone in town, he loves to eat, he has a dog named Gigi to add some color to his personality, he's probably at the top of the area's eligible bachelor list, and he really doesn't have a hard life because there's no real crime in this town.

Suddenly, a retired North African, beloved by all in the village is murdered, and Bruno must contend with the appearance of the "helper" crime solvers from higher up the crime-solving food chain, and must adjust his thinking about what he knows about the victim. To say the least, his quiet life is upended.

I enjoyed this one- it reminded me of M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series, or Alexander McCall Smith's First Ladies Detective Agency books. I'll be looking for at least one more by this author to see if the entire series is worth pursuing.

Title: Bruno, Chief of Police 
Author: Martin Walker
Publisher: Vintage (2010), Edition: 1, Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy police procedural
Subject: murder, secrets
Setting: south of France
Series: Bruno Courreges
Source: Public library
Why did I read this book now? recommended by friends

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Welcome, thanks for stopping by. Now that you've heard our two cents, perhaps you have a few pennies to throw into the discussion. Due to a bunch more anonymous spam getting through, I've had to disallow anonymous comments. I try to respond to all comments posing a question, but may not always get to you right away.