By Paul Carrier
As this third entry in Martin Walker’s mystery series opens, village policeman Benoit Courrèges, known to one and all simply as Bruno, is riding herd over relatively tranquil St. Denis in the Périgord region of southwestern France.
Sure, tempers flare somewhat when Green Party protesters turn out to celebrate the demise of a local sawmill that violated pollution-control regulations. The face-off becomes personal when mill owner Boniface Pons, leaving his business on the day of its closing, slugs his son Guillaume, who is leading the demonstration against the mill.
But once that incident is behind him, Bruno seems to have nothing more pressing to deal with than sorting out charges that someone is passing off low-grade truffles from China as the genuine French article, by sneaking them into outgoing shipments from the nearby town of Ste. Alvère.
Then everything goes downhill, fast. Chinese thugs attack husband and wife Vietnamese merchants at St. Denis’ outdoor market, after which the victims disappear. A similar attack occurs in Ste. Alvère. Someone starts blowing up Chinese restaurants and supermarkets in nearby communities. And the truffle scam proves to be more serious than originally thought.
Worst of all, Bruno’s friend, Hercule Vendrot, a retired intelligence officer and truffle expert, is found dead outside a shack in the woods where Bruno, Vendrot and their hunting buddies like to gather. Vendrot’s dog has been killed too, and it appears Vendrot was tortured before he died.
There are tantalizing clues to Vendrot's murder, but nothing conclusive. For one thing, he's the guy who tipped Bruno off to the truffles scam. The victim also had ties to the region’s Vietnamese community. He served in Vietnam while in the army, and his late wife was Vietnamese. Is the murder somehow related to the Asian-on-Asian violence? The fraudulent truffles? Or both?
All of which is puzzling enough, but Bruno has still more to worry about. Guillaume Pons, the Green Party activist whose father punched him at that sawmill demonstration, is running for mayor and seems likely to win. That could spell trouble for Bruno, who is at odds with the smooth-talking, self-absorbed political wannabe. A Pons win may well cost Bruno his job.
Anyone familiar with the Bruno series knows that it is firmly rooted in rural France (la France profonde), where Walker, who is British, has a home. St. Denis is fictional, but it is located in the valley of the quite real Vézère River. In his acknowledgments, Walker says he hopes the novels convey his “profound affection and respect” for the people of that region.
Walker’s protagonist is an unusual cop, at least by American standards. A 40-year-old bachelor, former soldier and bon vivant who has his share of romantic entanglements with independent-minded women, he lives on a hobby farm with his basset hound, Giji. Bruno is fond of hunting but rarely carries a gun while on duty, preferring to rely on persuasion when possible and physical force when necessary. A gourmet cook, he coaches tennis and rugby on the side and plays Père Noël (Father Christmas) for local kids during the holidays.
Bruno’s recurring, mouthwatering culinary adventures are a hallmark of the series. Food is a focal point of life in St. Denis, and everyone seems to share the obsession. A casse-croûte, or snack, on a hunting trip might include duck pâté, beefsteaks, apples, cognac, wine, hard-boiled eggs from Bruno’s chickens, baguettes and local cheese. The hunters who provide such treats always err “on the side of generosity.”
Walker also has a knack for endearing descriptions of the colorful, sometimes quirky, inhabitants of St. Denis and environs. When Vendrot first makes his appearance in Black Diamond, we meet a man well into his 70s with “sharp blue eyes and a fringe of white hair under the beret he invariably wore. His thick white mustache was brown in the center from the Gauloises he smoked.”
Much later, when a hospitalized Bruno asks the mayor of St. Denis how Bruno's lover reacted to a bit of bad news, the mayor “shrugged as only a Frenchman can, a gesture that carried with it all the weight of the world’s imponderables and prime among them the glorious mystery of women.”
The first three novels in this series range far afield, touching on World War Two, France’s role in Vietnam, the Algerian War, immigration, and other facets of French history and life. The Dark Vineyard, the second entry, uses local winemaking as a backdrop. The title of Black Diamond refers to a truffle for which the Périgord is famous. Walker has released several Bruno mysteries since Black Diamond, so readers who enjoy their initial visits to St. Denis have ample opportunity to learn still more about Bruno Courrèges and his beloved corner of la France profonde.
Sure, tempers flare somewhat when Green Party protesters turn out to celebrate the demise of a local sawmill that violated pollution-control regulations. The face-off becomes personal when mill owner Boniface Pons, leaving his business on the day of its closing, slugs his son Guillaume, who is leading the demonstration against the mill.
But once that incident is behind him, Bruno seems to have nothing more pressing to deal with than sorting out charges that someone is passing off low-grade truffles from China as the genuine French article, by sneaking them into outgoing shipments from the nearby town of Ste. Alvère.
Then everything goes downhill, fast. Chinese thugs attack husband and wife Vietnamese merchants at St. Denis’ outdoor market, after which the victims disappear. A similar attack occurs in Ste. Alvère. Someone starts blowing up Chinese restaurants and supermarkets in nearby communities. And the truffle scam proves to be more serious than originally thought.
Worst of all, Bruno’s friend, Hercule Vendrot, a retired intelligence officer and truffle expert, is found dead outside a shack in the woods where Bruno, Vendrot and their hunting buddies like to gather. Vendrot’s dog has been killed too, and it appears Vendrot was tortured before he died.
There are tantalizing clues to Vendrot's murder, but nothing conclusive. For one thing, he's the guy who tipped Bruno off to the truffles scam. The victim also had ties to the region’s Vietnamese community. He served in Vietnam while in the army, and his late wife was Vietnamese. Is the murder somehow related to the Asian-on-Asian violence? The fraudulent truffles? Or both?
All of which is puzzling enough, but Bruno has still more to worry about. Guillaume Pons, the Green Party activist whose father punched him at that sawmill demonstration, is running for mayor and seems likely to win. That could spell trouble for Bruno, who is at odds with the smooth-talking, self-absorbed political wannabe. A Pons win may well cost Bruno his job.
Anyone familiar with the Bruno series knows that it is firmly rooted in rural France (la France profonde), where Walker, who is British, has a home. St. Denis is fictional, but it is located in the valley of the quite real Vézère River. In his acknowledgments, Walker says he hopes the novels convey his “profound affection and respect” for the people of that region.
Walker’s protagonist is an unusual cop, at least by American standards. A 40-year-old bachelor, former soldier and bon vivant who has his share of romantic entanglements with independent-minded women, he lives on a hobby farm with his basset hound, Giji. Bruno is fond of hunting but rarely carries a gun while on duty, preferring to rely on persuasion when possible and physical force when necessary. A gourmet cook, he coaches tennis and rugby on the side and plays Père Noël (Father Christmas) for local kids during the holidays.
Bruno’s recurring, mouthwatering culinary adventures are a hallmark of the series. Food is a focal point of life in St. Denis, and everyone seems to share the obsession. A casse-croûte, or snack, on a hunting trip might include duck pâté, beefsteaks, apples, cognac, wine, hard-boiled eggs from Bruno’s chickens, baguettes and local cheese. The hunters who provide such treats always err “on the side of generosity.”
Walker also has a knack for endearing descriptions of the colorful, sometimes quirky, inhabitants of St. Denis and environs. When Vendrot first makes his appearance in Black Diamond, we meet a man well into his 70s with “sharp blue eyes and a fringe of white hair under the beret he invariably wore. His thick white mustache was brown in the center from the Gauloises he smoked.”
Much later, when a hospitalized Bruno asks the mayor of St. Denis how Bruno's lover reacted to a bit of bad news, the mayor “shrugged as only a Frenchman can, a gesture that carried with it all the weight of the world’s imponderables and prime among them the glorious mystery of women.”
The first three novels in this series range far afield, touching on World War Two, France’s role in Vietnam, the Algerian War, immigration, and other facets of French history and life. The Dark Vineyard, the second entry, uses local winemaking as a backdrop. The title of Black Diamond refers to a truffle for which the Périgord is famous. Walker has released several Bruno mysteries since Black Diamond, so readers who enjoy their initial visits to St. Denis have ample opportunity to learn still more about Bruno Courrèges and his beloved corner of la France profonde.
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