{"id":2682,"date":"2020-07-19T13:36:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T20:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=2682"},"modified":"2020-07-19T13:36:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T20:36:22","slug":"has-crime-fighting-ever-been-so-enchanting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=2682","title":{"rendered":"Has crime fighting ever been so enchanting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What could be better than to be transported to the Perigord in France at a time not so long ago when no one had heard of COVID-19 and spend a little time with Bruno, chief of police and chef extraordinaire as he solves crimes, prepares delicacies and lives the good life? Bob Moyer suggests that you let Martin Walker take you there.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer<\/p>\n

THE SHOOTING AT CHATEAU ROCK: A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 305 pages. $25.95<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Things are popping in pre-pandemic Perigord. Ivan is back in St. Denis with his new girl friend\/chef from Japan, and the restaurant menu changed again. Bruno is adjusting to supervision of the entire police region, although the increased salary doesn\u2019t really compensate for the increased responsibility. Pamela has taken Bruno back into her bed, but she\u2019s been a bit chilly lately. Old man Driant, that\u00a0 \u201cchaud lapin<\/em>\u201d or hot rabbit, was found dead, an apparent heart attack, with a bottle of Viagra on his bedstand and a black hair on his pillow. Bruno suspects something is awry; the old man disinherited his children, and deeded his house and insurance over to a fancy retirement home just opened down the road. Balzac the dog has a big day coming up, his first time at stud Bruno\u2019s ex, Isobel, will come down from Paris, and she and Bruno will help him along. Gilles, who came from Paris to marry Fabiola the doctor, is writing a book about the unrest in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

But the big news \u2013 the Chateau Rock is up for sale. Purchased years ago by a famous rock \u2019n’ roller named Mcrae, the estate has been a minor tourist attraction, and his family\u2019s home. The kids grew up there, they\u2019re off to college, and his wife wants to find the rest of her life. The kids bring a passel of their pals to spend the summer, pilling out of a van to gorge on a gazpacho made by Bruno in one of Walker\u2019s usual painstaking recipes. The group includes the son\u2019s girlfriend, the daughter of a Russian pal of Putin.<\/p>\n

The shooting, you say?\u00a0Don\u2019t hold your breath. It happens late in the book. Rest assured, however, that it will make St. Denis an international center involving finance, participants from France, Russia, Ukraine and Cypros, helicopters, swat teams, a sniper and Bruno.<\/p>\n

Not as much food porn this time, although there is a lengthy preparation for lamb shanks that will send some readers slobbering. Martin Walker puts a lot of detail into the construction of a chicken coop for the animals left behind by Monsieur Driant. Pamela\u2019s going to keep them. As for myself, I\u2019m off to make Bruno\u2019s\u00a0ouef mimosa. <\/em>Does any one know where I can get some\u00a0alumettes?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What could be better than to be transported to the Perigord in France at a time not so long ago when no one had heard of COVID-19 and spend a little time with Bruno, chief of police and chef extraordinaire as he solves crimes, prepares delicacies and lives the good life? Bob Moyer suggests that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[590,5,426],"tags":[333,894,158],"class_list":["post-2682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-detective-fiction-mysteries","category-mysteries","category-popular-fiction","tag-bruno","tag-chief-of-police","tag-martin-walker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2685,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2682\/revisions\/2685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}