‘An Enemy in the Village’ by Martin Walker

Published by Quercus,
5 June 20245.
ISBN: 978-1-52942-833-9 (HB)

The glorious landscape of the Dordogne; descriptions of sumptuous meals; characters who leap off the page; a village policeman who’s as happy teaching kids to play rugby as tracking down the bad guys, and equally proficient at both. What’s not to love? Martin Walker’s Dordogne Mysteries have all this and a lot more besides. Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges is one of the most likeable protagonists in modern crime fiction; every French village should have one.

Bruno’s creator, an eminent journalist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of world affairs, has placed him in some complex situations; in recent books in the series, he has dealt with Russian spies, Arab terrorists and cryptocurrency fraud. But Bruno remains rooted in his beloved St Denis, where his everyday life includes helping the children across the road to school, patrolling the market, and donning his Père Noel costume at the annual retirement home party. And in this outing, it’s in those very roots that the danger lurks. His popularity and reputation in St Denis are at risk when more than one adversary thinks there is reason to badmouth him.

When the rumours first begin to circulate, he is already investigating a suspicious death, though there is considerable doubt whether it is suspicious. The body of Monique Duhamel, a successful businesswoman, has been found in an abandoned car; she has apparently committed suicide. But when Bruno talks to her friends and a mystery deepens regarding her will, his suspicions are raised, and he is soon in danger of making an enemy of the woman’s husband.

Meanwhile, he has crossed swords with Xavier, the philandering deputy mayor, and also with a new member of the local gendarmes, who seems to think an uncle in high places is sufficient excuse for all kinds of bad behaviour. 

The usual non-suspects are all on Bruno’s side, of course: the deceptively genial Mayor, whose keen political brain has proved an asset to Bruno on more than one occasion; Scottish Pamela, owner of the local stables and his on-off lover, who even gives her blessing when his eyes start to stray elsewhere; Colette Cartagnan, his formidable admin assistant who isn’t dubbed Dragon of the Mairie for nothing; Fabiola the keen-eyed doctor; J-J the chief of detectives for the region; and not forgetting Balzac, his faithful basset hound, who kindles a little romance of his own. Equally supportive are experienced lawyer Becca Weil and Laura Segret, the dead woman’s business partner, both of whom were her close friends. 

Will Bruno’s spidery-sense about Monique prove justified? Can his reputation remain unsullied? Will he successfully circumnavigate all the hurdles placed in his path? All I’m saying is this: it would appear that village politics in rural France can be as complicated, and as mischievous, as the wider-ranging kind. Read the book to find out how – or even if – everything is resolved, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Martin Walker was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and Harvard. In twenty-five years with the Guardian, he served as Bureau Chief in Moscow and, in the US, as European Editor. In addition to his prize-winning journalism, he wrote and presented the BBC series Martin Walker’s Russia and Clintonomics.  Martin has written several acclaimed works of non-fiction, including The Cold War: A History. He lives in Washington and spends his summers in his house in the Dordogne. Many of his novels feature the old-school chief of police, Captain Bruno. The most recent being The Coldest Case. You can visit Bruno’s website at 

brunochiefofpolice.com  

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.