Search results for ""Author Martin Walker""

Capturing the magic of the Dordogne and its people, the Dordogne Mysteries are worldwide bestsellers. Featuring Bruno, France's favourite policeman, along with gourmet food and wine, local colour, sunshine and murder mystery, no wonder they are so popular.'RICH ON LOCAL COLOUR' THE TIMES'DOLLOPS OF THE GOOD LIFE IN RURAL FRANCE SPICED UP WITH INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE' IRISH INDEPENDENT'UNRIVALED AT INTERWEAVING THE PROFESSIONAL AND PRIVATE PURSUITS OF A THOROUGH LIKABLE COP' DAILY MAILBruno Courreges is Chief of Police of the lovely town of St Denis in the Dordogne. His main wish is to keep the local people safe and his town free from crime. But crime has a way of finding its way to him. For thirty years, Bruno's boss, Chief of Detectives Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt J-J. A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis and never identified. For all these years, J-J has kept the skull as a reminder. He calls him 'Oscar'. Visiting the famous pre-history museum in nearby Les Eyzies, Bruno sees some amazingly life-like heads expertly reconstructed from ancient skulls. He suggests performing a similar reconstruction on Oscar as a first step towards at last identifying him. An expert is hired to start the reconstruction and the search for Oscar's killer begins again in earnest.

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PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS CHILDREN OF WAR'SO LIKEABLE IS BRUNO AND SO CONVINCING HIS MILIEU THAT I WAS DESPERATE FOR MORE ... FORMIDABLE!' Independent on SundayBruno, Chief of Police, France's favourite cop, is under pressure once again in this internationally bestselling series. He's investigating a murder - but it's one his bosses would rather he left well alone...Bruno, Chief of Police in the charming French town of St Denis, is already busy with a case when the body of an undercover French Muslim cop is found in the woods, a man who called Bruno for help only hours earlier. But Bruno's sometime boss and rival, the Brigadier, doesn't see this investigation as a priority - there are bigger issues at stake. Bruno has other ideas. Meanwhile, a Muslim youth named Sami turns up at a French army base in Afghanistan hoping to get home to St Denis. One of Bruno's old army comrades helps to smuggle Sami back to France, but the FBI aren't far behind. Then an American woman appears in St Denis with a warrant for Sami's extradition. Bruno must unravel these multiple mysteries, amidst pressure from his bosses, and find his own way to protect his town and its people.

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'RICH IN ATMOSPHERE AND PERSONALTIY ... IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO READ A BRUNO NOVEL WITHOUT GETTING HUNGRY' New York TimesBruno, Chief of Police, star of the internationally bestselling series of Dordogne Mysteries, investigates the real-life disappearance of 'the most beautiful car ever made' in this compelling case for France's favourite copThe Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic was called the most beautiful car of all time. Only four of them were ever built. A California museum paid $37 million for one; Ralph Lauren bought another; a third was smashed by a train at a level crossing. The fourth disappeared in France during World War 2. It was the car used by British racing ace, William Grover Williams, twice winner of the French and Monaco Grand Prix, who became an undercover agent in Occupied France.The latest adventure in the Bruno series of mystery novels starts from this true story. Two young men, both racing drivers with a passion for antique cars, compete to find new clues as to the car's hiding place in the Perigord region of France. When a local researcher turns up dead on Bruno's patch, and French intelligence starts investigating the use of classic car sales to launder money for funding Islamic terrorism, Bruno finds himself once more caught up in a case that reaches far beyond his small town and its people.With the bucolic charm and gourmet cooking that are the hallmarks of this series, Bruno's latest adventure finds him falling in love again as he races to find the murderer and to track down the fate of the most beautiful car ever made.

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'A thoroughly enjoyable book and the introduction to a great series' 5* READER REVIEWCrime fiction fans worldwide are talking about the Dordogne Mysteries. In the first book in this beloved series, read and discover why, and what dark secrets are lurking in the idyllic French town of St Denis.When an old man, head of an immigrant North African family, is found murdered, suspicion falls on the son of the local doctor, discovered playing sex games surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia.But policeman Bruno isn't convinced, and suspects the crime has its roots in that most tortured period of French history - World War 2, a time of terror and betrayal that set brother against brother. Now it's up to him to find the killer - but will the people of St Denis allow him to go digging through a past they long to forget in order to do so?'An auspicious beginning and can be recommended unreservedly' 5* READER REVIEW'The descriptions of people, the area, food and wine give a great insight to this part in France' 5* READER REVIEW'I could almost see the countryside, taste the food, appreciate the characters' 5* READER REVIEW'The book is wonderful and I have purchased the next four' 5* READER REVIEW'Whether you fancy a trip through the sleepy Dordogne or a fascinating crime story then this book is for you' 5* READER REVIEW

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A bumper collection of delightful stories featuring Bruno, Chief of Police and France's favourite cop, all set in the beautiful Dordogne valley and the ravishing Perigord region of the south west. Here is a landscape of meandering rivers with medieval castles overlooking their banks, of lush hillsides and spreading vineyards, of delicious local wines and world renowned cuisine. With titles like 'The Chocolate War'; 'The Birthday Lunch'; 'Oystercatcher'; 'A Market Tale' and 'Fifty Million Bubbles', you may be sure that champagne and gastronomy will feature as well as cosy crime in 'Dangerous Vacation'. Bruno strides through these tales, staying calm. settling local disputes and keeping safe his beloved town of St Denis. Only on one occasion does he panic: in 'Bruno's Challenge', his friend Ivan, proprietor and chef of the town's popular eatery, suddenly collapses on the eve of a large anniversary dinner, and he asks Bruno to take over the restaurant. After a few protests followed by some deep breaths, the inimitable Bruno meets his challenge and saves the day.

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'BRILLIANT AT CAPTURING THE MURDEROUS CHARMS OF RURAL FRANCE ' MirrorMillions of fans worldwide have discovered the world of Bruno, Chief of Police, and the lovely Perigord town that he looks after. Yet even in the depths of rural France, murder is never far away.Spanish separatists, angry local activists and a mystery corpse: Bruno has his work cut out in this exciting mystery, part of the internationally bestselling series.Life in the Dordogne isn't full of the charming peace that you might imagine. In St Denis a summit in a local château is threatened by Basque separatists, animal rights campaigners are causing havoc and it's about to get worse. A local archaeological team unearths a well-preserved skeleton. Yet it's a lot more recent than they'd hoped - boasting a Swatch on its wrist and a bullet-hole in its skull. Meanwhile, an influx of visitors makes St Denis unusually crowded, and the solution to the murder appears to lie with one of these outsiders. Bruno must think fast and keep his wits about him, especially if the answer lies a little closer to home.

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France''s favourite country cop, Bruno, faces a dangerous threat to the town he polices and the people he protects. Loved by millions, the Dordogne Mysteries are the perfect mix of mystery and escapism.The event of the Périgord tourist season is the re-enactment of the liberation of the historic town of Sarlat from the English in 1370. But it all goes wrong when the man playing the part of the victorious French general collapses in a pool of blood.The question for chief of police Bruno is was this an accident - or deliberate? The stakes rise when Bruno learns that the man, Kerquelin, was running Frenchelon, the secret French electronic intelligence base nearby, after being recruited from a brilliant Silicon Valley career.As he investigates, Bruno discovers that Kerquelin''s wound was faked, that he is alive and well and secretly negotiating a massive deal to build a semi-conductor industry in France. But then a whole new and dangerous player emerges,

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Millions of readers worldwide are talking about the Dordogne Mysteries. Discover why and join them with this gripping new read starring Bruno Chief of Police, France's favourite cop'RICH ON LOCAL COLOUR' THE TIMES'DOLLOPS OF THE GOOD LIFE IN RURAL FRANCE SPICED UP WITH INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE' IRISH INDEPENDENT'UNRIVALLED AT INTERWEAVING THE PROFESSIONAL AND PRIVATE PURSUITS OF A THOROUGHLY LIKABLE COP' DAILY MAILFollowing the funeral of a local farmer, Bruno gets a phone call from his son. He tells Bruno that before his father's sudden death, he had signed over his property to an insurance company in return for a subscription to a luxury retirement home. Bruno discovers that both the retirement home and the insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch whose dealings are already being tracked by the French police. Meanwhile an aging British rock star is selling his home, Chateau Rock. The star's son returns for the summer with his Russian girlfriend. As Bruno pursues his inquiries into the farmer's death and the stolen inheritance, he learns that the oligarch is none other than the girlfriend's father. Bruno's talents are tested to the limit as he untangles a Gordian Knot of criminality that reaches as far as the Kremlin. But luckily Bruno still has time to cook delicious meals for his friends and enjoy the life of his beloved Dordogne. What's more, love is in the air. His pedigree basset, Balzac, is old enough to breed. Bruno heads for the kennels where a suitable beauty, Diane de Poitiers, is ready and waiting for Balzac's attentions...

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At the heart of French gastronomy lies the famed black truffle of the Perigord. But France's truffles are being adulterated with cheaper ones from China, and it seems that Chinese organised crime is behind the fraud. The third internationally bestselling case for Bruno, Chief of Police. In St Denis market, a Vietnamese family has been selling their dishes for years, until their stall is wrecked by attackers who look Chinese. Again it appears that organised crime is behind the outrage, firing the opening shots of a Viet-Chinese triad war. When vicious murder, illegal immigration and the importation of underage girls for prostitution are added to the mix, Bruno has his work cut out to keep St Denis from tearing itself apart.

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'WALKER BRINGS TO LIFE A COMPLETE COMMUNITY AND THE CHIEF OF POLICE WHO IS ITS PROTECTOR, TEACHER AND FRIEND' - Literary ReviewIn rural Dordogne, Bruno, Chief of Police, knows that WW2 casts the longest shadow. Rare bank notes are found, linking to the famous Neuvic train robbery of 1944 in the sixth internationally-bestselling case for France's favourite cop.In the small town of St Denis, Bruno, can't get a moment's rest. Some rare bank notes have come to light that may have links to the legendary Neuvic train robbery in 1944. The investigation is fraught with issues. Bruno is also dealing with a wave of local burglaries, which have brought his old flame, Isabelle - and their complicated history - back to the town. Worse is to come. Tasked with piecing together these past crimes, Bruno now finds he has the more pressing matter of a body on his hands. He must now trace the links between past and present to restore peace in his beloved town of St Denis.

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'BRINGS ALL THE BEAUTY OF DEEPEST FRANCE VIBRANTLY ALIVE' - Irish Independent on SundayBruno, Chief of Police's beloved Dordogne town of St Denis is tearing itself apart. Can he keep it together in the gripping eighth instalment in this internationally bestselling series? St Denis may be picturesque and sleepy, but it has more than its fair share of murder and mystery, as Bruno knows all too well. When Bruno is invited to the 90th birthday of a powerful local patriarch - a war hero with high-level political connections in France, Russia and Israel - he encounters a family with more secrets than even he had imagined. When one of the other guests is found dead the next morning and the family try to cover it up, Bruno knows it's his duty to prevent the victim from becoming just another skeleton in their closet. Even if his digging reveals things Bruno himself would rather keep buried.Meanwhile, very modern battles are being fought in St Denis between hunters defending their traditions and environmentalists protecting local wildlife. Neither side, it seems, is above the use of violent tactics. At the centre of it all, Bruno must use all his cunning and character to protect his community's future from its present - and its past.

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'ENCHANTING COUNTRY MYSTERIES THAT EMBODY THE SUBLIME PHYSICAL BEAUTY OF THE DORDOGNE' New York TimesIn this latest mouthwatering mystery starring French country cop, Bruno, the body of a woman is found outside a cave beneath the ruined Templar chateau of Commarque in the heart of the Dordogne. She died of a broken neck. An accidental fall, or was she pushed?The victim carries no identification and her fingerprints are not known to the French Police or Interpol.The only clue to the woman's identity is that her dentistry looks American, but Bruno's inquiries at local hotels and gites yield no trace of a missing foreign woman. The chateau of Commarque, begun in the 11th century, was founded by a Bishop of Sarlat and entrusted to the Knights Templar. In the rocks beneath it are caves. It is one of the few Templar sites in France that has never been associated with the fabled hidden treasure of the Templars - never until now, when a local journalist publishes a sensational story around the unknown woman's death and a centuries-old mystery looks like it might finally be solved...

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'WALKER'S FINEST YET ... A FIRST-RATE MYSTERY' - Entertainment WeeklyBruno, Chief of Police, investigates when a body is found floating in the river showing marks of Satanism. France's favourite cop must track down a murderer while quelling his town's superstitious fears in this page-turning mystery, part of an internationally bestselling series.It is springtime France's Périgord, a time of beauty and calm. But not for Bruno, chief of police of the small town of St Denis. A woman's body has been found on a boat, bearing signs of a black magic ritual. Bruno has too much on his plate as it is - mediating a domestic abuse case that needs careful handling and a dodgy local development proposal that seems just too good to be true. But a murder case must take precedent and the roots of this one lie buried deep in the past - linked to a chateau above a bend in the river, to the reclusive old woman who lives there, and to the secret hidden in the Devil's Cave.

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Take Note for Exam Success! York Notes offer an exciting approach to English literature. This market leading series fully reflects student needs. They are packed with summaries, commentaries, exam advice, margin and textual features to offer a wider context to the text and encourage a critical analysis. York Notes, The Ultimate Literature Guides.

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Summer in the beautiful Périgord region of southern France, the Dordogne Mysteries are the perfect combination of mystery and escapism.In the little down of St Denis, Bruno is busy organising the annual summer concert. He's hired a local Périgord folk group, Les Troubadours, to perform their latest hit 'A Song for Catalonia'. But when the song goes viral, the Spanish government, clamping down on the Catalonian bid for independence, bans Les Troubadours from performing it.The timing couldn't be worse, and Bruno finds himself under yet more pressure when a specialist sniper's bullet is found in a wrecked car near Bergerac. The car was reportedly stolen on the Spanish frontier and the Spanish government sends warning that a group of nationalist extremists may be planning an assassination in France. Bruno immediately suspects that Les Troubadours and their audience might be in danger.Bruno must organise security and ensure that his beloved town and its people are safe - the stakes are high for France's favourite policeman.'I LOVE BRUNO!' 5* Reader Review'A REAL PAGE-TURNER AND LOTS OF LOCAL COLOUR' 5* Reader Review'ONE OF THE BEST' 5* Reader Review'WELL UP THERE WITH THE BEST OF THE BRUNO NOVELS' 5* Reader Review

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In his latest adventure Bruno, France''s favourite country cop, investigates a long-buried war crime and faces a devastating flood that threatens the town he polices and the people he loves.''FRENCH TOURISM SHOULD RAISE A GLASS TO WALKER''S DORDOGNE MYSTERIES'' Daily MailThe long arm of history reaches into the present in Bruno''s latest case when three sets of bones are discovered, buried deep in the woods outside the Dordogne town of St Denis. It appears that the remains have lain there since World War 2. Bruno must investigate who the bones belong to and whether their burial amounts to a war crime.Bruno has other concerns too. After weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne river has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through St Denis, bringing the threat of a devastating flood. As ever, Bruno must rely on his wits, tenacity and people skills to ensure tha

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France's favourite country cop, Bruno, faces a dangerous threat to the town he polices and the people he protects. Loved by millions, the Dordogne Mysteries are the perfect combination of mystery and escapism.The event of the Périgord tourist season is to be the re-enactment of the liberation of the historic town of Sarlat from the English in 1370. But it all goes wrong when the man playing the part of the French general is almost killed in the heat of the action.The immediate question for chief of police Bruno Courrèges is was this an accident - or deliberate? The stakes rise when Bruno learns that the man, Kerquelin, was running Frenchelon, the secret French electronic intelligence base nearby, after being recruited from a brilliant Silicon Valley career. His old Silicon Valley colleagues have been invited to stay at the luxurious local chateau of Rouffillac as his guests to enjoy the Sarlat show.As he investigates, Bruno discovers that Kerquelin's wound was faked, that he is alive and well and secretly negotiating a massive deal to build a semi-conductor industry in France. But then a whole new and dangerous player emerges, determined to nip the deal in the bud.

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Millions of readers worldwide are talking about the Dordogne Mysteries. Discover why and join them with this gripping new read!'WILL MAKE READERS LONG FOR LAZY DAYS IN RURAL FRANCE' Irish IndependentFollowing the funeral of a local farmer, Bruno gets a phone call from his son. He tells Bruno that before his father's sudden death, he had signed over his property to an insurance company in return for a subscription to a luxury retirement home. Bruno discovers that both the retirement home and the insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch whose dealings are already being tracked by the French police. Meanwhile an aging British rock star is selling his home, Chateau Rock. The star's son returns for the summer with his Russian girlfriend. As Bruno pursues his inquiries into the farmer's death and the stolen inheritance, he learns that the oligarch is none other than the girlfriend's father. Bruno's talents are tested to the limit as he untangles a Gordian Knot of criminality that reaches as far as the Kremlin. But luckily Bruno still has time to cook delicious meals for his friends and enjoy the life of his beloved Dordogne. What's more, love is in the air. His pedigree basset, Balzac, is old enough to breed. Bruno heads for the kennels where a suitable beauty, Diane de Poitiers, is ready and waiting for Balzac's attentions...

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Murder mystery starring Bruno, France's favourite policeman, plus food and wine, great characters and sunshine and everything that's wonderful about the Dordogne.'RICH ON LOCAL COLOUR' THE TIMESFor thirty years, Bruno's boss, Chief of Detectives Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt J-J. A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis and never identified. For all these years, J-J has kept the skull as a reminder. He calls him 'Oscar'. Visiting the famous pre-history museum in nearby Les Eyzies, Bruno sees some amazingly life-like heads expertly reconstructed from ancient skulls. He suggests performing a similar reconstruction on Oscar as a first step towards at last identifying him. An expert is hired to start the reconstruction and the search for Oscar's killer begins again in earnest.'DOLLOPS OF THE GOOD LIFE IN RURAL FRANCE SPICED UP WITH INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE' IRISH INDEPENDENT'UNRIVALED AT INTERWEAVING THE PROFESSIONAL AND PRIVATE PURSUITS OF A THOROUGH LIKABLE COP' DAILY MAIL

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'WITH BRUNO IN CHARGE THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR ONE OF THOSE CLASSIC FEASTS THAT MAKE THIS SERIES SUCH A MOUTH-WATERING TREAT' New York Times Book ReviewIn this eleventh addition to a beguiling and bestselling series, Bruno wonders which he's most afraid of - a death squad loose in the woods or teaching a cookery class to the tourists who flock to his beloved DordogneBruno, now Chief of Police for the whole Vézère valley, has an unusual challenge to rise to: teaching at his friend Pamela's new cookery school. It is a daunting prospect - the disappearance of one of the school's pupils almost serves as a welcome distraction.When the woman's body is discovered in one half of a double homicide, the evidence points to something far out of the ordinary. The other murder victim is a man, covered in combat scars and with a false passport. Investigations reveal a list of enemies as long as Bruno's arm. Any one of them would have had good reason to kill him - but which group managed it? And how did they find him?As more of their mystery man's previous life is revealed, Bruno realizes that there may be more intended victims in the vicinity. Now he must conduct the biggest manhunt in St Denis' history to find the killers before they strike again.

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'BEGUILING, EVOCATIVE, WONDERFUL ... THE ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH OF FRANCE' Francis WheenIn the second mystery of this mouthwatering and bestselling series, Bruno, Chief of Police of a small rural French town, must balance local tradition and modern progress while bringing a killer to justice.Just before dawn one summer morning Bruno is summoned by the wail of the siren in the little town of St Denis in the Périgord. A fire is raging in a local barn and spreading to the surrounding fields. When Bruno arrives at the scene, the smell of petrol leaves no doubt: it was arson. The barn belongs to an agricultural research company experimenting with genetically modified crops - an unpopular move in deeply traditional St Denis.Meanwhile, a Californian producer wants to set up a wine-making business in the valley. Despite the money and jobs this would bring, many fear it would destroy their town. When a violent death follows the crop burning, it looks as though someone is prepared to do anything to stop the scheme. Bruno will have to draw on all his local knowledge to reach the truth.

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