Martin Walker

The Devil's Cave

Detective: Bruno Courreges
Location: "St Denis" in the Perigord, France
Time:       1990?
Genre

This is the fifth in Walker's Bruno Courreges series set in the fictional town of St Denis in the Perigord region of France. While Bruno may be styled the Chief of police, he is the police for the small town. The series in general reflects Walker's fondness for the area and for the relative simplicity of life in rural France.

The crime to be investigated is the death, possibly murder, of an unidentified woman, found floating in a punt towards the town naked and possibly the victim of a black mass. Simultaneously the town council is being persuaded to invest in a holiday village scheme despite the fact that a similar investment by the same developers went pear shaped in a previous town. As Couureges investigates both siutations he finds himself under pressure from government level to drop the matter.

The threads come together effectively, but this is as much a book to enjoy the location, the cast of characters and their continuing development as it is a hard nosed police procedural.

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Martin Walker's  Bruno, Chief of Police blog

Previously read
Bruno, Chief of Police
The Dark Vinyard
Black  Diamond
The Crowded Grave