The Dordogne Mysteries
16 total works
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.
'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...
'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?
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...
'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.
'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
'BRINGS ALL THE BEAUTY OF DEEPEST FRANCE VIBRANTLY ALIVE' - Irish Independent on Sunday
Bruno, Chief of Police's beloved Dordogne town of St Denis is tearing itself apart. Can he keep it together in the gripping eighth instalment in this internationally bestselling series? St Denis may be picturesque and sleepy, but it has more than its fair share of murder and mystery, as Bruno knows all too well.
When Bruno is invited to the 90th birthday of a powerful local patriarch - a war hero with high-level political connections in France, Russia and Israel - he encounters a family with more secrets than even he had imagined. When one of the other guests is found dead the next morning and the family try to cover it up, Bruno knows it's his duty to prevent the victim from becoming just another skeleton in their closet. Even if his digging reveals things Bruno himself would rather keep buried.
Meanwhile, very modern battles are being fought in St Denis between hunters defending their traditions and environmentalists protecting local wildlife. Neither side, it seems, is above the use of violent tactics.
At the centre of it all, Bruno must use all his cunning and character to protect his community's future from its present - and its past.
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.
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.
Join Bruno, France's favourite country cop, on his latest adventure as he fights to keep St Denis safe. Set in the beautiful Périgord region, The Dordogne Mysteries are the perfect combination of mystery and escapism.
It is summer in St Denis and Bruno is busy organising the annual village concert. He's hired a local Périgord folk group, Les Troubadours, to perform their latest hit 'A Song for Catalonia'. But when the song unexpectedly goes viral, the Spanish government, clamping down on the Catalonian bid for independence, bans Les Troubadours from performing it.
The timing couldn't be worse, and Bruno finds himself under yet more pressure when a specialist sniper's bullet is found in a wrecked car near Bergerac. The car was reportedly stolen on the Spanish frontier and the Spanish government sends warning that a group of nationalist extremists may be planning an assassination in France. Bruno immediately suspects that Les Troubadours and their audience might be in danger.
Bruno must organise security and ensure that his beloved town and its people are safe - the stakes are high for France's favourite policeman.
France's favourite country cop, Bruno, faces a dangerous threat to the town he polices and the people he protects. Loved by millions, the Dordogne Mysteries are the perfect combination of mystery and escapism.
The event of the Périgord tourist season is to be the re-enactment of the liberation of the historic town of Sarlat from the English in 1370. But it all goes wrong when the man playing the part of the French general is almost killed in the heat of the action.
The immediate question for chief of police Bruno Courrèges is was this an accident - or deliberate? The stakes rise when Bruno learns that the man, Kerquelin, was running Frenchelon, the secret French electronic intelligence base nearby, after being recruited from a brilliant Silicon Valley career. His old Silicon Valley colleagues have been invited to stay at the luxurious local chateau of Rouffillac as his guests to enjoy the Sarlat show.
As he investigates, Bruno discovers that Kerquelin's wound was faked, that he is alive and well and secretly negotiating a massive deal to build a semi-conductor industry in France. But then a whole new and dangerous player emerges, determined to nip the deal in the bud.
In his latest adventure Bruno, France's favourite country cop, investigates a long-buried war crime and faces a devastating flood that threatens the town he polices and the people he loves.
'FRENCH TOURISM SHOULD RAISE A GLASS TO WALKER'S DORDOGNE MYSTERIES' Daily Mail
The long arm of history reaches into the present in Bruno's latest case when three sets of bones are discovered, buried deep in the woods outside the Dordogne town of St Denis. It appears that the remains have lain there since World War 2. Bruno must investigate who the bones belong to and whether their burial amounts to a war crime.
Bruno has other concerns too. After weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne river has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through St Denis, bringing the threat of a devastating flood.
As ever, Bruno must rely on his wits, tenacity and people skills to ensure that past wrongs don't result in present violence, and to keep his little town and its inhabitants safe from harm.