It looks like I’ve found a new crime series to sink my teeth into!
My bookclub brief this month was to read a crime novel set in France. After three unsuccessful attempts with books by other authors, I was recommended Bruno, Chief of Police (the original title).
What’s not to enjoy about this book?
We are introduced to Bruno Courreges as he surveys his beloved town of St Denis nestled near the Dordogne in south west France: ‘with one final gaze into the little corner of paradise that was entrusted to him, Bruno took a deep breath of his native air and braced himself for the day.’
I am not going to pretend to understand the French system of justice, which is very different to the systems used in Australia, UK and USA. However, Walker explains it enough for you to understand that Bruno is the smallest of cogs in a very complicated system. He is responsible for his town, and answers to the Mayor.
St Denis is a town seeped in history and tradition. Their usual concerns relate to dodging the health inspectors at their fresh food markets, who are determined to fine stallholders for selling food that doesn’t comply with the rigid European Union Food Laws.
When an old man is brutally murdered, old wounds are revealed and St Denis’s bucolic existence is threatened.
This could have easily been a ‘cosy crime’ novel, but it is much more. Walker has skilfully created a town full of real people, all with their own histories and prejudices. The effects of the Second World War are still felt strongly. Members of the French Resistance are now elderly men - with long memories of the evils that occurred over sixty years ago. St Denis is not immune to contemporary concerns relating to race and immigration.
But this dark history is tempered by beautifully detailed descriptions of food and wine, and the wonderful friendships that Bruno has created in his little corner of paradise.
I am looking forward to be making regular visits to St Denis and its community, where the company is convivial and the wine is excellent.