Bruno, Chief of Police

Author: Martin Walker
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307271463
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
The first installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. Meet Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, a policeman in a small village in the South of France. He’s a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it. But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes all that. Now Bruno must balance his beloved routines—living in his restored shepherd’s cottage, shopping at the local market, drinking wine, strolling the countryside—with a politically delicate investigation. He’s paired with a young policewoman from Paris and the two suspect anti-immigrant militants. As they learn more about the dead man’s past, Bruno’s suspicions turn toward a more complex motive. "Enjoyable.... Martin Walker plots with the same finesse with which Bruno can whip up a truffle omelette, and both have a clear appreciation for a life tied to the land." —The Christian Science Monitor "A nice literary pairing with the slow-food movement.... [It is] lovely...to linger at the table." —Entertainment Weekly "A wonderfully crafted novel as satisfying as a French pastry but with none of the guilt or calories." —Tuscon Citizen's Journal

Death in the Dordogne

Author: Louis Sanders
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781845057565
Category : British
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Book Description
When you moved out of North London to a picturesque hamlet in the Dordogne no one said it would be like this in February: freezing cold, dark by mid-afternoon and so quiet. Members of the Caminade family keep dying in suspicious circumstances, and the doctor knows more about it than he's prepared to reveal. You're sure there's a murderer at large: could it be the Old Dutch Woman or her deranged son, or the Mad Englishman from over the hill, and could you be the next victim, maybe you're imagining things, maybe it's the whisky, but then what's that scratching sound coming from the other half of the house... The first in a series, Death in the Dordogne portrays a rural France very different from A Year in Provence and other saccharine tales of expatriate derring-do. It is an essential book for everyone planning to go on a French holiday.

A Twist of Orchids

Author: Michelle Wan
Publisher: Anchor Canada
ISBN: 0385673434
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
Third in the acclaimed “Death in the Dordogne” series. Winter in the Dordogne: delicious food, ruggedly beautiful scenery, unscrupulous orchid hunters, illegal drugs, a poetic house-breaker, and three mysterious deaths and counting . . . Expat Montrealer Mara Dunn and orchid-loving Brit Julian Wood are living together in an uneasy, on-and-off way. When bad things start to happen to their friends–first Amélie Gaillard falls mysteriously to her death, leaving behind a husband with Parkinson’s who is visited by a murderous apparition, then a local Turkish couple’s son disappears and is soon found dead of an overdose–each has a very different way of helping out. So different that each begins to wonder if they are really meant to be together. But when Julian, with his unerring understanding of the orchid-lover’s mind, thinks he has found the link between the local spike in drug traffic and murder, one of them might lose the other–permanently.

The Orchid Shroud

Author: Michelle Wan
Publisher: Anchor Canada
ISBN: 0385673450
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 389

Book Description
A strange beast is killing both livestock and humans in the Dordogne . . . Business is booming for orchidologist Julian and interior designer Mara, but things take a horrifying turn when, in the wall of the sixteenth-century manor house she has been commissioned to restore, Mara’s workmen find a mummified baby. Forensic analysis reveals that the baby had been smothered more than a hundred years before. Julian discovers that the infant’s shawl is embroidered with an exact likeness of a rare orchid he has been researching. Meanwhile Mara falls under suspicion in another more recent murder, linked not only to the mummified child but, seemingly, to the spectre of a werewolf . . . As sinister revelations abound, so too do the legends and superstitions of the Dordogne. The breathtaking world of wild orchids and delectable Dordognais cookery provide atmosphere in equal part to the unraveling mystery. A superb and accomplished follow-up to Deadly Slipper.

Black Diamond

Author: Martin Walker
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 030770145X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
The third installment in thed elightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. Something dangerous is afoot in St. Denis. In the space of a few weeks, the normally sleepy village sees attacks on Vietnamese vendors, arson at a local Asian restaurant, subpar truffles from China smuggled into outgoing shipments at a nearby market—all of it threatening the Dordogne’s truffle trade, worth millions of dollars each year, and all of it spelling trouble for Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges, master chef, devoted oenophile, and, most important, beloved chief of police. When one of his hunting partners, a noted truffle expert, is murdered, Bruno’s investigation into the murky events unfolding around St. Denis becomes infinitely more complicated. His friend wasn’t just a connoisseur of French delicacies, he was a former high-profile intelligence agent—and someone wanted him dead. As the strange crimes continue, Bruno’s detective work takes him from sunlit markets to dim cafés, from luxurious feasts to tense negotiations—from all of the paradisial pleasures of the region to its shadowy underworld—and reunites him with a lost love, an ambitious policewoman also assigned to the case. Filled with an abundance of food and wine (including, bien sûr, many, many truffles) and a soupçon of romance, Black Diamond is a deliciously entertaining concoction that delivers all the complexity and delights of the Dordogne itself.

The Devil's Cave

Author: Martin Walker
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 038534953X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
Another delightful installment in the internationally acclaimed series: It's spring in St. Denis. The village choir is preparing for its Easter concert, the wildflowers are blooming, and among the lazy whorls of the river a dead woman is found floating in a boat. This means another case for Bruno, the town’s cherished chief of police. With the discovery of sinister markings and black candles near the body, it seems to Bruno that the occult might be involved. And as questions mount—most notably about a troubling real estate proposal in the region and the sudden reappearance of an elderly countess—Bruno and his colleagues are drawn ever closer to a climactic showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac: the place locals call the Devil’s Cave.

Deadly Slipper

Author: Michelle Wan
Publisher: Seal Books
ISBN: 0385673442
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Book Description
The first in a new mystery series that has it all — a tragic puzzle, fabulous French food, and a peek into the fascinating world of wild orchids. In 1984, a young Canadian woman vanished while on a hiking holiday in the Dordogne region of France. Was Bedie Dunn the victim of an accident? Or could she have been murdered? Haunted for years by the disappearance of her twin sister, Mara Dunn has moved to France to try to answer these questions. Mara’s amateur investigations finally begin to show progress when she discovers a camera she is convinced belonged to Bedie in a second-hand store. In it is an old roll of film, whose exposures turn out to be mostly of wild terrestial orchids. Mara turns to Julian Wood, an expatriate English orchidologist, for help with the impossible: can they use two-decade-old photos of flowers to trace Bedie’s last route, and find the end of her journey? Julian is reluctant to get drawn into this seemingly hopeless quest, but the last exposure on the film is irresistible to him — an unknown species of Lady’s Slipper Orchid. If discovered, it might be the key to botanical fame — or it could be the marker to a shallow grave.

Death in the Dordogne

Author: Martin Walker
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1849166307
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
'A thoroughly enjoyable book and the introduction to a great series' 5* READER REVIEW Crime fiction fans worldwide are talking about the Dordogne Mysteries. In the first book in this beloved series, read and discover why, and what dark secrets are lurking in the idyllic French town of St Denis. When an old man, head of an immigrant North African family, is found murdered, suspicion falls on the son of the local doctor, discovered playing sex games surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia. But policeman Bruno isn't convinced, and suspects the crime has its roots in that most tortured period of French history - World War 2, a time of terror and betrayal that set brother against brother. Now it's up to him to find the killer - but will the people of St Denis allow him to go digging through a past they long to forget in order to do ************************************** What readers are saying about Death in the Dordogne 'An auspicious beginning and can be recommended unreservedly' 5* READER REVIEW 'The descriptions of people, the area, food and wine give a great insight to this part in France' 5* READER REVIEW 'I could almost see the countryside, taste the food, appreciate the characters' 5* READER REVIEW 'The book is wonderful and I have purchased the next four' 5* READER REVIEW 'Whether you fancy a trip through the sleepy Dordogne or a fascinating crime story then this book is for you' 5* READER REVIEW

The Dordogne Deception

Author: Sherry Joyce
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475987781
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
Ambushed: a twenty-year marriage dissolved. Ambushed: a high-profile executive career hanging precariously by a thread. Ambushed: a seemingly perfect life. Stunned, beautiful and successful Silicon Valley executive Cherise Eden never saw her divorce coming. With a lucrative payout from her job, she flees San Francisco to start a new life in the Dordogne region of France. As the new owner of a posh bed and breakfast, Chateau Roufillay, she meets seductive and irresistible Francois Delacroix, a guest at the castle who sweeps emotionally fragile Cherise off her feet while unaware of his dark past. Retired Scotland Yard detective Brett Maxfield discovers his old friend, Sir Raleigh Aubrey died gruesomelyhis wheelchair plummeting down the grand staircase of his manor home, Brightingham. Or, was he pushed? Determined, Brett resolves to unravel the mystery, following the trail of bizarre clues from England to Switzerland and Bordeaux, ultimately leading to Roufillay. Lives, lies and lust intertwine as danger approaches. Trapped and frantic, Cherise needs an ally. But can she trust Brett?

The Dark Vineyard

Author: Martin Walker
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307454711
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
The second installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Bruno, Chief of Police: When a bevy of winemakers descend on Saint-Denis the idyllic town finds itself the center of an intense drama, with suspicious fires at the agricultural research station that is working on genetically-modified crops. Two young men—Max, an environmentalist who hopes to make organic wine, and Fernando, the heir to an American wine fortune—become rivals for the affections of Jacqueline, a flirtatious, newly arrived Québécoise student of wine. Events grow ever darker, culminating in two suspicious deaths, and Bruno finds that the problems of the present are never far from those of the past. "Captivating...Sure to appeal to readers with a palate for mysteries with social nuance and understated charm." —The Wall Street Journal "A gentle reminder to slow down and smell the grapes.... [Walker] beguiles the reader." —The New York Tiems Book Review "The real pleasure of the book is the place itself.... As readers are drawn into wine-stomping parties, truffle omelet dinners, and the aged dignity of a French hunting hound, the narrative tension gathers." —Houston Chronicle