crime-fiction, thriller, hate-crimes, unputdownable, France, audiobook, law-enforcement, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, local-politics, Algerian-war, Afghanistan-war, Iraqi-war, cooperation, coercion, murder, torture, investigations, relationship-issues, relationships, relatives, religious-abuse, religious-differences, small-town, rural, secrets, lies, historical-places-events, historical-figures, historical-research, history-and-culture, foodie, suspense, witty, due-diligence, French Muslim, triggers, abuse*****

** spoiler alert ** in the beginning there is a brutal murder/torture, in the middle there is fearful involvement of a local family with a Muslim sect involving bombs (and Bruno has a cattle prod used on him in front of the school students), Enter a more than capable (and entrancing) FBI agent, dirty doings uncovered, and a bittersweet ending. I learned a lot of recent history in this one! Great police work complete with cooperation from the FBI and even the press in stringing out the clues and suspects. As addictive as the others I am binge-reading in this series!
Voice actor Robert Ian MacKenzie is excellent with interpretation and character definition, and superior in the rolling tones of French pronunciations. ( )

I think that this series of novels goes from strength to strength, and I am surprised that the books are not more widely known. Benoit ‘Bruno’ Courrèges is a great character – not without his own faults and prejudices, he shows great dexterity in navigating the questionable terrain between what is best for the interests of his local community, and the pursuit of law and order.

He has already, in previous books in the series, had to exercise considerable tact and discretion in cases where some of the more painful aspects of French history have reared their heads, including the long reverberations echoing from issues of resistance and collaboration during the Second World War. In this book, he adroitly combines different plot threads relating to further episodes from the Second World War with contemporary events, with the threat of terrorism from fundamentalist Muslims.

As always, Walker offers a delightful insight into the countryside, and particularly highlights from the local cuisine, with a procession of mouth-watering meals to tantalise the reader. The plots of both major plotlines are watertight, and the characters are as plausible and three dimensional as ever.

Another winner. ( )

This 7th book in the series is more of a thriller than a mystery. Walker does a good job of showing the complexities involved in dealing with the Muslim citizens of France while investigating a possible Taliban terrorist. Sami, an autistic young man with a flair for electronics and a tragic background, returns emaciated, scarred and ill to St. Denis from Afganistan with Bruno's help. Was he a willing recruit or was he coerced? How did he come to be in Afganistan when he was supposed to be in a special mosque school in France? I didn't care for the way Walker resolved this plot, partly because I was sad at Sami's death but mostly because it felt like a "cheat". The problem of what would become of Sami & his family was a difficult one and by killing off Sami, Walker sidestepped that complexity with a simple, though tragic, solution.

While the above story was the main plot, the book also had an interesting subplot (which I actually liked better) about 2 Jewish children who had been hidden in St. Denis during WW2 by a Protestant couple. The husband was a WW1 veteran who was gueule cassée ('broken face', one of the wounded who had severe facial injuries). ( )

Walker's use of skeins of history to spin very good tales for the life and career of Bruno, the St Denis Police Chief to excellent effect in this very good series. . This one involves Islam, Algeria, as well as Jewish survivors of WW2 in an excellent melange of bouquets, aromas, recipes and mayhem. ( )

Walker has a style in which he combines two subplots and then dovetails these unrelated themes into a final burst of excitement and supposedly thrilling suspense. Except he's started using this pattern so much that the reader can be forgiven thinking, 'yeah, right, here we go again', which derails any suspense that was developing.

Having read 9 of these Bruno stories, with a few more on the bookshelf, I do enjoy the unwinding of the plots but my favourite parts are the small vignettes of history which Walker is very good at weaving into his narrative.

I think the police chief character has grown stale, unfortunately. Forever chasing after one woman and harbouring affections full of angst for past relationships begs the development of a stable relationship that's suitable for enduring association with the main character. Other aspects of the idyllic St. Denis creation are enjoyable reading which definitely casts the Bruno Courrèges series into the cozy mystery genre. ( )