BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE

Prize-winning short-story writer Judith Cutler is the author of twenty-five contemporary novels, including the acclaimed Fran Harman series, the third of which, Still Waters, is published in March.www.judithcutler.co.uk

Benoit Courreges, aka Bruno, is the local policeman for a sleepy commune in the heart of the Dordogne, whose regular duties include purchasing fireworks for local celebrations and teaching five year olds to play tennis.  He is more used to kissing his fellow men and women than arresting them, and, as a bachelor of forty, is clearly ripe for romance. 

But the idyll is shattered when one of the local war-heroes is found brutally murdered, a swastika carved on his chest.  But this is no ordinary war hero, this is the patriarch of a popular village family of North African descent. However much the Front National hates the idea, all the family are not just tolerated, but loved by the other villagers. 

At first the finger of suspicion points at the dope-smoking son of another vital and popular local figure, the doctor, but it is soon clear that the police (the national police have now been called in) should be looking not at the Far Right nor at the spoilt pot-head.  In fact, it is all a matter of feuds dating back to the days of Vichy France, and any attempt to expose the true killer will have appalling consequences on the comradely and well-integrated villagers. 

Martin Walker comes with a huge reputation as a prize-winning journalist for the Guardian. He’s clearly done his market research for Bruno, and the novel presses every sales button going: a lovely location, heart-warming characters, a little contemporary controversy, romantic love, food, wine – you name it, it’s got it. The only minus is its occasional long-winded didacticism in the matter of English food, and so on.