federal-agents, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, espionage, France, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, relationship-issues, relationships, illegal-immigrants, Vietnamese, Chinese-gangsters, rural, lies, secrets, murder, murder-investigation, torture, rivalry, due-diligence, local-politics, small-town, audiobook, international-crime-and-mystery, international-espionage, suspense, truffles, pet-dog, foodie, environmentalists, arson*****

I am now officially addicted to following the investigations of Bruno, Chief of Police.
This episode has rugby, Chinese gangsters, espionage, Vietnamese/French history, arson, relationship entanglements, a self-important local millionaire, wonderful food, and an intense murder mystery. Well worth the read!
Voice actor Robert Ian MacKenzie is excellent and is great for pronunciations I don't know. ( )

I decided to listen to this one to give my eyes a break, but I don't like it on audio as much as I liked the Didias Falco ones. Different styles, different degrees of description, etc. Still, it was a nice listen. Bruno is a bit more physically active in this one, beaten up, rescuing people in a fire, etc. And there's woman trouble. But it's mostly about truffles. I don't think I've ever had real truffles. Must add that to my list. ( )

3.5*

I really like this series so far - the mysteries are decent but the main attraction is the way Bruno is a part of the community in this small village in a rural area of France.

Thus, when the possibility arises in this 3rd entry in the series that the mayor who hired him & with whom he works closely may be defeated in the upcoming election, Bruno (& the reader also) is naturally concerned about what that might mean for his future. And it doesn't help that the candidate likely to oust the mayor seems to be making moves on Bruno's current girlfriend/lover... ( )

I think that Bruno Courrèges must be one of the most likeable of recent crime fiction protagonists. He is local Chief of Police in St Denis, a small commune in the Dordogne region, and has established himself as a key member of the local community, helping out the largely volunteer local fire brigade, teaching the children of the village how to play rugby and tennis, and even filling in as Santa Claus for the annual Christmas party.

His life has not always been so idyllic, and he had been raised in local authority care as an orphan. Embarking upon adult life, he had enlisted in the French Army and served two tours as part of the UN peace keeping force in what was formerly Yugoslavia. Having left the army he joined the police and found himself stationed in St Denis where he worked hard to become accepted as a key part of the local community. As a man of many parts, he has taught himself to cook local recipes, and also devotes much of his time to hunting the requisite wildlife, and also growing much of the requisite fruit and vegetables, as well as his own small crop of vines. Always eager to learn, he has also immersed himself in local lore about the mystical truffle, and has had great success training his dog to mind valuable specimens.

Truffles play an important role in the local economy, and Bruno is called in to investigate apparent irregularities in the truffle harvest in one of the neighbouring villages, about which some of the higher profile customers, including prominent Parisian restaurants, have started to claim. It appears that weaker strains of truffles have been substituted for the genuine article, threatening the local product’s reputation. Meanwhile, there have been several instances of members of the local Vietnamese community being attacked by Chinese assailants.

Having been an eminent journalist, Martin Walker knows how to tell a tale. He also knows how to impart information about which his reader might previously have been lamentably ignorant (well, this reader certainly was), without alienating them, or making them feel brow beaten. He conveys his love of the local region, its traditions, and the values by which the local residents navigate through life. Yet he also manages to combine this rural idyll with an engrossing plot, encompassing much of recent French history, and up to the minute trends in international organised crime.

This is a series that is going from strength to strength! ( )

We learn a lot about truffles; their cultivation, trade, use, and recipes. Some of Frances's Indo-Chinese chickens come home to roost and violence is everywhere, almost at a US level, as Bruno tries to fulfill his Pere Noel obligations. Another excellent entry in this very entertaining series. ( )