Bruno, Chief of Police
16 primary works • 19 total works
Book 1
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
Book 2
Industrial sabotage spills over into murder in the Dordogne village of St Denis. Chief of police Bruno must balance tradition and progress while bringing a killer to justice.
Just before dawn one summer morning Bruno is summoned by the wail of the siren in the little town of St Denis in the Perigord. A fire is raging in a local barn and spreading to the surrounding fields. When Bruno arrives at the scene, the smell of petrol leaves no doubt: it was arson. The barn belongs to an agricultural research company experimenting with genetically modified crops - an unpopular move in deeply traditional St Denis.
Meanwhile, a Californian producer wants to set up a wine-making business in the valley. Despite the money and jobs this would bring, many fear it would destroy their town. When a violent death follows the crop burning, it looks as though someone is prepared to do anything to stop the scheme. Bruno will have to draw on all his local knowledge to reach the truth.
Book 3
Book 4
Book 6
Book 7
Book 9
Bruno’s village of St. Denis has been called many things, but a hotbed of international intrigue has never been one of them ... until now. When an undercover agent is found murdered just as a prodigal son is set to retun from a grim tour in the Middle East, the small town suddenly finds itself host to a determined global tribunal, threatening the usual cheer brought by St. Denis’s annual wine festival.
Book 10
All signs point to a tragic accident, but Bruno isn’t so sure, for there is more to the Desaix family's lives and loyalties than meets the eye. There’s Victor, the Patriarch’s son and Gilbert's sometimes rival, and Victor’s seductive wife, Madeleine, whose roving eye intrigues Bruno even more than her fierce political ambitions. Not to mention the Patriarch himself—did his postwar Soviet ties intersect too closely with Gilbert’s career in Cold War intelligence?
As Bruno’s entanglement with the Desaix family becomes more complicated, his inquiries into Gilbert’s life will become a deadly threat to his own.
Book 11
Bruno's biggest worry at the annual fête in St. Denis is surviving as a last-minute replacement navigator in a car rally race. A young Englishman tells Bruno an intriguing story about a Bugatti Type 57C, lost somewhere in France during World War II. Among the most beautiful cars ever made, it is worth millions and drives its pursuers mad with greed. When two deaths occur during the festivities, Bruno suspects that the events in St. Denis are linked to international crime.
Book 11.5
Book 12
'The Maigret of the Dordogne' ANTONY BEEVOR
'Walker does a wonderful job of bringing La France Profonde to life' MAIL ON SUNDAY
In this latest mouthwatering mystery starring country policeman, Bruno, the body of a woman is found outside a cave beneath the ruined Templar chateau of Commarque in the heart of the Dordogne. She died of a broken neck. An accidental fall, or was she pushed?
The victim carries no identification and her fingerprints are not known to the French Police or Interpol.The only clue to the woman's identity is that her dentistry looks American, but Bruno's inquiries at local hotels and gites yield no trace of a missing foreign woman.
The chateau of Commarque, begun in the 11th century, was founded by a Bishop of Sarlat and entrusted to the Knights Templar. In the rocks beneath it are caves. It is one of the few Templar sites in France that has never been associated with the fabled hidden treasure of the Templars - never until now, when a local journalist publishes a sensational story around the unknown woman's death and a centuries-old mystery looks like it might finally be solved...
Book 13
'THE MAIGRET OF THE DORDOGNE' ANTONY BEEVOR
Bruno, now Chief of Police for the whole Vézère valley, has an unusual challenge to rise to: teaching at his friend Pamela's new cookery school. It is a daunting prospect - the disappearance of one of the school's pupils almost serves as a welcome distraction.
When the woman's body is discovered in one half of a double homicide, the evidence points to something far out of the ordinary. The other murder victim is a man, covered in combat scars and with a false passport. Investigations reveal a list of enemies as long as Bruno's arm. Any one of them would have had good reason to kill him - but which group managed it? And how did they find him?
As more of their mystery man's previous life is revealed, Bruno realizes that there may be more intended victims in the vicinity. Now he must conduct the biggest manhunt in St Denis' history to find the killers before they strike again.
Book 14
'WILL MAKE READERS LONG FOR LAZY DAYS IN RURAL FRANCE' Irish Independent
Millions of readers worldwide are discovering the special world of Bruno, Chief of Police, and the Dordogne Mysteries. There's murder in paradise in the twelfth case for France's favourite cop in this addition to a beloved series
A missing art student. An international investigation. A secret that will shatter Bruno's charming village of St Denis.
A rich American art student is found dead at the bottom of a well in an ancient hilltop castle. The young woman, Claudia, had been working in the archives of an eminent French art historian, a crippled Resistance war hero, at his art-filled chateau.
As Claudia's White House connections get the US Embassy and the FBI involved, Bruno traces the people and events that led to her fatal accident - or was it murder?
Bruno learns that Claudia had been trying to buy the chateau and art collection of her tutor, even while her researches led her to suspect that some of his attributions may have been forged. This takes Bruno down a trail that leads him from the ruins of Berlin in 1945, to France's colonial war in Algeria.
The long arm of French history has reached out to find a new victim, but can Bruno identify the killer - and prove his case?
Book 15
Millions of readers worldwide are talking about the Dordogne Mysteries. Discover why and join them with this gripping new read!
'WILL MAKE READERS LONG FOR LAZY DAYS IN RURAL FRANCE' Irish Independent
Following the funeral of a local farmer, Bruno gets a phone call from his son. He tells Bruno that before his father's sudden death, he had signed over his property to an insurance company in return for a subscription to a luxury retirement home. Bruno discovers that both the retirement home and the insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch whose dealings are already being tracked by the French police.
Meanwhile an aging British rock star is selling his home, Chateau Rock. The star's son returns for the summer with his Russian girlfriend. As Bruno pursues his inquiries into the farmer's death and the stolen inheritance, he learns that the oligarch is none other than the girlfriend's father. Bruno's talents are tested to the limit as he untangles a Gordian Knot of criminality that reaches as far as the Kremlin.
But luckily Bruno still has time to cook delicious meals for his friends and enjoy the life of his beloved Dordogne. What's more, love is in the air. His pedigree basset, Balzac, is old enough to breed. Bruno heads for the kennels where a suitable beauty, Diane de Poitiers, is ready and waiting for Balzac's attentions...
Book 15
Book 16
Capturing the magic of the Dordogne and its people, the Dordogne Mysteries are worldwide bestsellers. Featuring Bruno, France's favourite policeman, along with gourmet food and wine, local colour, sunshine and murder mystery, no wonder they are so popular.
'RICH ON LOCAL COLOUR' THE TIMES
'DOLLOPS OF THE GOOD LIFE IN RURAL FRANCE SPICED UP WITH INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE' IRISH INDEPENDENT
'UNRIVALED AT INTERWEAVING THE PROFESSIONAL AND PRIVATE PURSUITS OF A THOROUGH LIKABLE COP' DAILY MAIL
Bruno Courreges is Chief of Police of the lovely town of St Denis in the Dordogne. His main wish is to keep the local people safe and his town free from crime. But crime has a way of finding its way to him.
For thirty years, Bruno's boss, Chief of Detectives Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt J-J. A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis and never identified. For all these years, J-J has kept the skull as a reminder. He calls him 'Oscar'.
Visiting the famous pre-history museum in nearby Les Eyzies, Bruno sees some amazingly life-like heads expertly reconstructed from ancient skulls. He suggests performing a similar reconstruction on Oscar as a first step towards at last identifying him. An expert is hired to start the reconstruction and the search for Oscar's killer begins again in earnest.
Book 16
'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 so?
'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
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS CHILDREN OF WAR
'SO LIKEABLE IS BRUNO AND SO CONVINCING HIS MILIEU THAT I WAS DESPERATE FOR MORE ... FORMIDABLE!' Independent on Sunday
Bruno, Chief of Police, France's favourite cop, is under pressure once again in this internationally bestselling series. He's investigating a murder - but it's one his bosses would rather he left well alone...
Bruno, Chief of Police in the charming French town of St Denis, is already busy with a case when the body of an undercover French Muslim cop is found in the woods, a man who called Bruno for help only hours earlier.
But Bruno's sometime boss and rival, the Brigadier, doesn't see this investigation as a priority - there are bigger issues at stake. Bruno has other ideas.
Meanwhile, a Muslim youth named Sami turns up at a French army base in Afghanistan hoping to get home to St Denis. One of Bruno's old army comrades helps to smuggle Sami back to France, but the FBI aren't far behind. Then an American woman appears in St Denis with a warrant for Sami's extradition.
Bruno must unravel these multiple mysteries, amidst pressure from his bosses, and find his own way to protect his town and its people.