Black Diamond: A Mystery of the French Countryside (Bruno, Chief of Police Series #3)
Description
A noted truffle expert is murdered in this installment of the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. Filled with an abundance of food and wine (including, bien sûr, many, many truffles), Black Diamond is a deliciously entertaining concoction that delivers all the complexity and delights of the Dordogne itself.
"A charming French village, great food, eccentric characters and a mystery to nudge things along.... Savory indeed" —The Seattle Times
Something dangerous is afoot in St. Denis. In the space of a few weeks, the normally sleepy village sees attacks on Vietnamese vendors, arson at a local Asian restaurant, subpar truffles from China smuggled into outgoing shipments at a nearby market—all of it threatening the Dordogne’s truffle trade, worth millions of dollars each year, and all of it spelling trouble for Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges, master chef, devoted oenophile, and, most important, beloved chief of police. When one of his hunting partners, a noted truffle expert, is murdered, Bruno’s investigation into the murky events unfolding around St. Denis becomes infinitely more complicated. His friend wasn’t just a connoisseur of French delicacies, he was a former high-profile intelligence agent—and someone wanted him dead.
As the strange crimes continue, Bruno’s detective work takes him from sunlit markets to dim cafés, from luxurious feasts to tense negotiations—from all of the paradisial pleasures of the region to its shadowy underworld—and reunites him with a lost love, an ambitious policewoman also assigned to the case.
Praise for Black Diamond: A Mystery of the French Countryside (Bruno, Chief of Police Series #3)
“A charming French village, great food, eccentric characters and a mystery to nudge things along.... Savory indeed.” —The Seattle Times
“Deliciously good.... An enticing mix of the savory and suspenseful, a recipe for a great read.” —Christian DuChateau, CNN
“Walker’s series is ... a potion to convert remaining skeptics to the joie de vivre that infuses French life.... Everyone needs a friend in southern France to go spend some time with, and Walker has opened Bruno’s door to anyone who has a few hours to join him in the simple joys of la vie en rose.” —The Washington Independent
“Beneath the Gallic charm that Walker conjures so effortlessly are modern mores and characters more convincing—and cruel—than you might at first assume. . . . Beguiling. . . . So likeable is Courreges, and so convincing his milieu, that I was desperate for more Bruno as soon as Black Diamond’s brisk and brutal conclusion came.” —Rebecca Armstrong, The Independent (London)
“In Walker’s hands, Black Diamond becomes a savory mystery, a light concoction with tantalizing ingredients.” —Associated Press
“Like the aroma of amateur chef Bruno’s venison stew, which virtually leaps off the pages, Walker’s unmistakable affection for the ‘enchanting Périgord’ makes every morsel of this cozy-cum-crime novel a savory delight.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Martin Walker’s delightful Bruno series makes you want to buy a ticket and immerse yourself in la France Profonde.” —The Irish Independent
“Consistently charming. . . . Bruno Courrèges may be a small-town cop, but he’s anything but small-minded. Walker . . . has created a character who’s endearingly human and worldly wise.” —Booklist
“Mouth-watering . . . Walker’s fluid writing keeps getting better.” —Curled Up With a Good Book
“A paean to the truffle. . . . This political thriller is supplemented by a glorious foodie’s delight, from an author who knows his way around the French passions.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Wonderfully rich. . . . A delightful basset hound and his charming girlfriend round out Courrèges’s private world and offer him an oft needed respite and someone with whom to bounce ideas.” —The Mystery Reader
