The Crowded Grave (2011)

Enjoyable, but not my favorite in the series so far, perhaps because I’ve read 4 of them in the past few months. I’ll keep reading the series, but maybe take a short break. As usual the descriptions of food and wine make me want to get on a plane to France for dinner. ( )

A well known archaeologist brings a group of students to St. Denis to search for Neanderthal remains. Incredibly they find a family of three buried together, but they also find the skeleton of a man murdered just 10 years previously rather than 30,000.

At the same time a political summit is being held near St. Denis between French and Spanish ministers. This all seemed convoluted to me though it may not seem so to those who are knowledgeable in the history of Basques and France.

The ending disappointed me with a fight between the two factions (France and ETA) that could have been dreamed up by an 8 year old boy playing with plastic swords. ( )

Für Brunos Geschmack ist im malerischen Saint-Denis im Périgord entschieden zu viel los: Ein spanisch-französisches Gipfeltreffen ruft die Separatistenbewegung ETA auf den Plan, eine Gänsefarm wird von Tierschutzaktivisten attackiert, und dann ist da auch noch die archäologische Ausgrabungsstätte, deren deutscher Forschungsleiter nach einem prähistorischen Menschen sucht. Das Skelett, das dann auch gefunden wird, ist allerdings längst nicht so alt wie erhofft, und Bruno muss gute Nerven beweisen, um all die Fäden zusammenzuführen.

This 4th book in the Bruno Courrèges series highlights the archeological treasures of the Perigord region as well as the foie gras industry. The main action however involves the possibility of Basque terrorists in the area targeting a meeting between French & Spanish government ministers. Of course, with ministerial involvement comes the Brigidier and Isabelle... To make things even more hectic for Bruno, there is a new and young magistrate to contend with.

One aspect of the case seemed fairly obvious to me. Bruno, though having some suspicions, didn't manage to act on them in time to prevent tragedy, though he did manage to prevent an international incident. On the personal side, it seems like Bruno's lover may be about to exit the series, which would be a shame as I liked having her Engish perspective (and her character made a good excuse for the author to explain certain French customs or dishes etc.). ( )

This is the 4th book in the Bruno Chief of Police series and the 4th one I have read. I'd say this is on par with the others. All the elements I've enjoyed in the prior books are here again with new things going on, and we get a little history lesson on the French in the process, as usual. Walker gives us a familiar cast of characters with some new ones. I'll be spoilery and say that an old favorite dies at the end of the book which did not make me happy.

I DO want to keep reading this series! I'm eager to see how things develop in the next entry in the series. There were a number of overlapping plots in this story with an important archaeology discovery involving Neanderthals and early man, attacks by greens on local fois gras farms and facilities, a new magistrate who is quite at odds with Bruno and the town and a big meeting between French and Spanish ministers about to take place. As always events of the past echo forward in time. Oh, one can learn new things to cook as well.

This novel is about 100 pages longer than the other Bruno books. ( )