Bob Moyer and I are both fans of Martin Walker’s Bruno, Chief of Police novels, but lately he always manages to get the new one first. Here he reviews the 2025 addition to the series – No. 18. There’s already a 2026 book in the works. One of us will keep you posted. As Bob says, if you haven’t discovered this series and like this sort of book – mystery and police procedural that’s definitely of the softer, cozier variety – you  have many treats in store. But take his advice and start at the beginning of the series.

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer

AN ENEMY IN THE VILLAGE: A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 290 pages. $28.

Did you know that deep in the Dordogne region of France there’s a hillock “…where archaeologists have found the oldest-known human grave, the first deliberate burial of human beings … around seventy thousand years ago…”?  Or that the forgotten wine Merille , “…sometimes known as Perigord Noir, was known as an old grape variety, known across southwestern France for being full-bodied with strong tannins…”?

Those are just a couple of facts that fill the narrative of a Bruno, Chief of Police novel. Every book in the series is more than just a mystery; it’s a travelogue of the Dordogne region.

This latest installment is no different. Between Bruno’s discovery of a suicide victim at the start of the story, and the reading of her will at the book’s conclusion, the author has poured an abundance of historical, political, archeological, cultural and, yes, Bruno fans, culinary detail into the narrative. Of course, Walker also catches us up on all the characters who have come to crowd Bruno’s world over the previous 17 episodes of his adventures — Fabiola the doctor, Gilles the journalist, the Mayor, Pamela the stable owner (as well as friend with benefits), etc. Walker even devotes an entire page to the thoughts of Balzac, Bruno’s faithful bassett hound.

The mystery isn’t urgent here. As Walker develops it, it’s a questioning not of cause of death but after-effect: How will the somewhat dastardly husband try to undo the victim’s last wishes? To beef up the suspense element, the author adds two subplots, one in which someone starts a campaign to discredit Bruno and another centering on a rogue gendarme who commits a crime, as well as political mayhem for Bruno and friends.

Then there’s the food porn. Every Bruno book has a multi-page, multi-course meal, usually prepared by Bruno for the principal characters in the story. This time, however, the meal takes place in a one-star Michelin restaurant, and includes what must be the dish with the longest name in any previous culinary orgy — foie gras d’esturgeon, tartine de champignon a l’huie denoix, which requires an entire paragraph to explain. The meal is consumed while the diners, colleagues and friends of the victim, fret over the future of the business the woman had established. Their concerns are valid; the husband makes a move that requires a clever countermove by Bruno.

This latest installment will entertain Bruno’s fans, but probably isn’t the best place to start. Begin at the beginning of the series — by the time you get to this one, you will appreciate the world that Martin Walker has created.