Martin Walker: A Grave in the Woods (USA 2024)

From the publisher:
Another entertaining and enlightening entry in the Bruno, Chief of Police series, featuring archeological and World War II subthemes and more culinary magic.

When Abby, an American archeologist, arrives in St. Denis on the heels of her divorce, she hopes to make a new life for herself as a specialist guide for visiting tourists. So when a local British couple discover a World War II-era grave on their property, Abby is able to put her training to good use. As it turns out, in the grave are the remains of two German women and an Italian submarine officer who had a big secret to hide. The women are suspected of having had links to the German garrison in Bordeaux during the war. It's up to Bruno, just recovered from a gunshot wound earlier in the year, to unravel the mystery -- and its contemporary relevance. His task is made more difficult by the horrible heat-dome summer, which is raising the temperatures for miles around, as unprecedented amounts of water vapor encumber the air, drenching the Massif Central and threatening increasingly dramatic floods.

As Bruno drills to the heart of the case, matters get even more complicated when both Abby's financially distressed ex-husband and a mysterious dashing Italian naval officer arrive, with very different ideas in mind. Once again, Bruno is left to serve the guilty their just rewards, and his friends, some sumptuous Perigordian cuisine.

Martin Walker: A Grave in the Woods. A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN: 9780593536629 (August, 2024), 320 p., $29.00, eBook $14.99.

Martin Walker: A Grave in the Woods (UK 2024)

From the publisher:
In his latest adventure Bruno, France's favourite country cop, investigates a long-buried war crime and faces a devastating flood that threatens the town he polices and the people he loves.

'FRENCH TOURISM SHOULD RAISE A GLASS TO WALKER'S DORDOGNE MYSTERIES' Daily Mail

The long arm of history reaches into the present in Bruno's latest case when three sets of bones are discovered, buried deep in the woods outside the Dordogne town of St Denis. It appears that the remains have lain there since World War 2. Bruno must investigate who the bones belong to and whether their burial amounts to a war crime.

Bruno has other concerns too. After weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne river has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through St Denis, bringing the threat of a devastating flood.

As ever, Bruno must rely on his wits, tenacity and people skills to ensure that past wrongs don't result in present violence, and to keep his little town and its inhabitants safe from harm.

Martin Walker: A Grave in the Woods. The Dordogne Mysteries. Quercus, ISBN: 9781529428285 (June, 2024), 352 p., £22.00, eBook £12.99.