“The distant howl of the siren atop the mairie broke the stillness of the French summer night. It was an hour before dawn but Bruno Courrèges was already awake, his thoughts churning with memories and regrets about the woman who had until recently shared his bed. For a brief moment he froze, stilled by the eerie sound that carried such weight of history and alarm. This same siren had summoned his neighbors in the small town of Saint-Denis to war and invasion, to liberation and peace, and it marked the hour of noon each day.”

Book Review:

Review by Kirstin Merrihew (DEC 29, 2010)

The first time readers met this village lawman was in Bruno, Chief of Police. He was something of a French version of Andy Taylor of Mayberry: as a matter of course he didn’t carry a gun, he sometimes upheld the spirit of community well-being rather than enforce the letter of the law, and he dealt with the villagers with a natural but unadvertised psychology instead of simply compelling obedience. He was also single and had a history of discreetly dating a number of women. He was the only local police officer, having no Barney Fife at his side, but when crimes of greater significance than a parking ticket arose he had to collaborate with his immediate boss, the town mayor, and with wider French enforcement agencies, including the national police. He, unlike Sheriff Andy, had a bit of a repertoire in the cooking department and was especially famous in the tiny Périgord commune for whipping up heavenly truffle omelettes. Bruno, whose actual but never used name was Benoît, was deeply content to remain in Saint-Denis, although as a highly decorated former soldier who had traded in one uniform for another, his services would have been eagerly accepted by the Police Nationale in Paris itself.

Bruno, Chief of Police evoked a real French village atmosphere, complete with a likeable stalwart and romantically-inclined local cop as well as a unique bunch of Saint-Denis residents. If you haven’t already read this book, I suggest doing so before immersing yourself in The Dark Vineyard. I didn’t take that advice and although my omission didn’t dim my enjoyment, it did leave me with a few backstory questions that were all answered by happily “inhaling” the earlier novel. Author Martin Walker doesn’t believe in following other series writers in the practice of rehashing a lot of background each time around. In that he respects the reader’s time but also expects them to keep abreast of each installment.

Both Chief Bruno mysteries (and we can safely bet there will be more) benefit from Walker’s sure writer’s hand. His prose is really unassailable; it is clear as a bell and easy to read– although…any reader who never took French in school or has forgotten all he knows should have a French/English dictionary at hand to look up some of the italicized words and phrases such as appellation contrôlée, mairie, putain de merde, croquet-monsieur, or bécasses. The author intrigues us with characters who betray all the faults of our species but also inveigle empathy and understanding from both Bruno and us. And Walker is adept at forming complex plots that are both “cozy” (no excessive harping on gruesome details– just state the facts and move on), yet disturbing.

So what exactly is The Dark Vineyard about? Bruno awakes to a siren that signals fire. Arriving at the scene, he learns that a research station for genetically modified crop experimentation has burned down. He begins an investigation, suspecting arson at the hands of some environmentalists who oppose unnatural alteration of food and worry about contamination of nearby vineyards and other producing fields. Problems heap on for Bruno when a privileged and brash young American named Fernando Bondino pays a visit. He represents his family’s worldwide wine corporation which sees an opportunity to buy up a number of smaller local wineries and bring “new techniques and modern marketing” to the area. It isn’t long before suspicious deaths associated with the fire and the Bondino empire strenuously test Bruno’s detective skills. The deaths also provoke unwanted media attention for the town which just wants to mourn its losses at a traditional bonfire wake.

This time as the chief’s cases heat up, the ambitious Police Nationale inspector, Isabelle Perrault, whom Bruno first encountered in Bruno, Chief of Police, and who became his lover, appears fleetingly and not so much for professional reasons. But Bruno doesn’t see a sustainable future for them because she is seldom in Saint-Denis and he is seldom away from it. He wants more than a stolen night here or there and had thought they’d broken up. Apparently Isabelle can content herself with occasional passion and requires more explicit signals from gallant Bruno if their relationship is to truly end. During her long absences however, Bruno has begun to relish the company of a British ex-pat who loves to ride horses and “who seem[s] content to give him all the time in the world.” Volume three of this series may find Bruno in a love triangle and having to choose between the ladies…or — ahem — maybe not choosing between the ladies?

Frequently sequels aren’t quite as strong as their predecessors. The Dark Vineyard, I would opine, follows this pattern. Don’t misunderstand. The Dark Vineyard provides another window into French small-town life, permitting the reader to tag along with Bruno to a grape-crushing gathering, to additional patriotic parades down the main street, to the merchants trying to make a living, and to the winemakers (organic and not) who rely more on their experience than on science and innovation to bottle fragrant and full-flavored juice of the vine. Walker cites Robert Louis Stevenson’s lovely thought, “Wine is bottled poetry,” and The Dark Vineyard seeks to convey that sentiment in its pages. Yet the customs and culture of a village in the South of France eclipse the caliber of the two prominent murder plots. There is little mystery about who committed one of the crimes; Bruno has that person fingered from the get-go. And another culprit is also fairly easy to spot. The “how” and the “why” of the deaths that Bruno investigates actually supply the book’s suspense, rather than the suspects’ identities. Also, although The Dark Vineyard possesses rich and intricate subject matter, it seems on the light side in comparison with its forerunner. It has some formulaic similarities (such as the Saint-Denis’ way of life being threatened by outside corporate pressure), and some repetition of routines, but that is because, after all, the rhythms of small town French life are repetitive, so while I mention this, it more as a notation than a criticism.

Walker does create an interesting ironic reversal vis-a-vis Bruno who, in the first book arguably made himself judge, jury, and absolver when due process, the civil law system, and duty (but not mercy and cosmic justice?) demanded a different action. Chief Bruno knows the human heart and mind is capable of all sorts of skullduggery; why shouldn’t he have latitude to deal with cases where the suspect seems obvious and where genuine justice can’t be won? This time fate and higher legal authorities dispense their own compromised “justice,” frustrating him. Bruno feels a sense of powerlessness when he understands that despite his ability to identify perpetrators, justice will be only partial.

Anyone who read Bruno, Chief of Police, will surely luxuriate in this second visit with the denizens of Saint-Denis. Anyone who reads The Dark Vineyard without initially being aware of the earlier volume (or just skipping it) will also almost surely be impressed because this is a superior (just not perfect) addition to the cozy mystery genre. It would be very hard to top the original story, but we would be poorer had Walker stopped after Bruno, Chief of Police.

AMAZON READER RATING:	from 18 readers
PUBLISHER:	Knopf; 1 edition (July 27, 2010)
REVIEWER:	Kirstin Merrihew
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK?	YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE:	Martin Walker
EXTRAS:	Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION:	Read our review of: Bruno, Chief of Police

Bibliography:

French Countryside Mysteries:

• Bruno, Chief of Police (2008; March 2009 in US)
• The Dark Vineyard (2009; July 2010 in US)
• Black Diamond (2010; August 2011 in US)

Other Fiction:

• The Caves of Perigord (March 2002; July 2009)

Nonfiction:

• Waking Giant: Gorbachev and Perestroika (1986)
• The Cold War: A History (1993)
• The President We Deserve: Bill Clinton: His Rise, Falls, and Comebacks (1996)
• Makers of the American Century (2000)
• America Reborn: A Twentieth-Century Narrative in Twenty-six Lives (2000)

“In the back of the van were a crowbar, a tangle of battery cables, one basket containing newly laid eggs from his own hens, and another with his garden’s first spring peas. Two tennis rackets, a pair of rugby boots, sneakers, and a large bag with various kinds of sports attire and a spare line from a fishing rod added to the jumble. Tucked neatly to one side were a first-aid kit, a small tool chest, a blanket, and a picnic hamper with plates and glasses, salt and pepper, a head of garlic and a Laguiole pocketknife with a horn handle and a corkscrew. Tucked under the front seat was a bottle of not-quite-legal eau-de-vie from a friendly farmer. He would use this to make his private stock of vin de noix when the green walnuts were ready on the feast of St. Catherine. Benoit Courreges, chief of police for the small commune of St. Denis and its 2,900 souls, and universally known as Bruno, was always very well prepared.”

Book Review:

Review by Lynn Harnett (APR 29, 2010)

A paean to the Dordogne, an exploration of fractious French history, and the debut of the most self-possessed, accomplished, even-tempered, life-savoring Holmesian character ever, Walker’s first Bruno novel proves once and for all that heavyweight journalists can write mystery novels.

Former Russia and U.S. bureau chief for The Guardian, current Editor Emeritus of UPI, author of such books as The Cold War, and The President They Deserve, this British journalist, historian, scholar, and global policy advisor has created a hero dedicated to the quiet, regular, sensual life of rural France.

Bruno, an orphan abandoned by his mother, joined the military at an early age and spent 12 years with the Combat Engineers, which seems roughly equivalent to Special Forces. Receiving a Croix de Guerre for his service in the Balkans, Bruno retired to St. Denis and became the town’s police chief and only policeman.

Although new to the town, he has become part of its fabric, savoring the rhythm of life – his own and that of the townspeople, from the two old WWII partisans that don’t speak, and the town’s token communist, to its bakers and cheese makers and vintners, its quarrels, rivalries and long-simmering feuds, even its newcomers – the English tourists who have lately been pushing up the housing prices.

He plays tennis with the Baron (atheist and retired industrialist), coaches kids at rugby, hunts birds, cooks, works on his house, organizes parades, safeguards the local market from the health inspectors of the European Union, and with the help of his friend the politically well-connected mayor, generally keeps the peace.

This idyllic life is threatened when someone stabs a reclusive Algerian grandfather – a hero of the French Resistance and winner of the Croix de Guerre – carving a swastika into his chest. Some druggy kids, local members of the Front National, the extreme right, are arrested, but despite motive and opportunity, Bruno is not convinced.

The politicians swoop in and take over, determined to bring this sensational hate crime to a swift and triumphant conclusion. But Bruno keeps turning up evidence that delays their gratification.

Meanwhile there is budding romance with an attractive inspector assigned to St. Denis for the investigation, and flirtation with the English ladies who run a small resort near the murdered man’s home. There are truffles to be shaved, meals to be cooked and enjoyed with good wine, ruffled feathers to be smoothed, scenery to be admired, facts to be gleaned and interpreted.

There is an edgy feel to the book, a tension caused by the ugly feelings towards immigrants, especially Muslims, seen as disrupting tradition. In return the Muslims dig in their heels and don chadors. And longstanding tensions arise from the tangled roots of WWII occupation and collaboration. Not everyone was really a member of the Resistance. Hard feelings run deep.

But the strongest undercurrent is a sense of French joie de vivre, an attention to small rituals, an appreciation of conversation, attractive women, good clothes, good food, and all the trappings of civilized life.

Bruno is a master of calm thinking, diplomacy and planning – a marvel really. But his careful and commanding organization seems part of the fabric of his being, well nurtured after his chaotic youth. Readers will appreciate – even believe – his apparent perfection.

Walker’s love of the place shines through. Readers will look forward to visiting it again with him and the incomparable Bruno, this coming July when The Dark Vineyard is released.

AMAZON READER RATING:	from 24 readers
PUBLISHER:	Vintage; 1 edition (April 6, 2010)
REVIEWER:	Lynn Harnett
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK?	YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE:	Martin Walker
EXTRAS:	Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION:	More in this series: The Dark Vineyard More new favorite mystery series: Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall

Bibliography:

French Countryside Mysteries:

• Bruno, Chief of Police (2008; March 2009 in US)
• The Dark Vineyard (2009; July 2010 in US)
• Black Diamond (2010; August 2011 in US)

Other Fiction:

• The Caves of Perigord (March 2002; July 2009)

Nonfiction:

• Waking Giant: Gorbachev and Perestroika (1986)
• The Cold War: A History (1993)
• The President We Deserve: Bill Clinton: His Rise, Falls, and Comebacks (1996)
• Makers of the American Century (2000)
• America Reborn: A Twentieth-Century Narrative in Twenty-six Lives (2000)