A Grave in the Woods by Martin Walker: wonderfully multi-layered whodunit – book review –

The considerable sleuthing talents of Lieutenant Bruno Courrèges are tested to the limit again in the seventeenth book of Martin Walker’s enchanting, French-flavoured series which stars an astute, epicurean detective with a taste for food, vin rouge… and crime.

Lovers of clever mysteries, social, international and political history, stunning scenery, excellent cuisine, and the very best of French wines, have enjoyed sharing the past sixteen years with the smart, likeable Bruno in Walker’s exceptionally entertaining novels.

A prize-winning historian and journalist who spends most of his time in the Périgord region – the lush, gastronomic heartland of France – Walker has mastered the fine art of harnessing intriguing murder mysteries with paeans to his adopted country’s rich history, landscape, food and culture to dish up stories with an addictive brand of Gallic charm.

And at the heart of these witty, wonderful novels is the laidback Bruno, a bon viveur with a brain as discerning as his palate… a man who can crack crime in the fictional settlement of St Denis whilst cracking open a bottle of his favourite wine.

In his new mystery, we find Bruno convalescing with injuries he suffered in his last case but still finding time for an amorous reunion with an old flame and a visit to his place of work where he learns that the sale of a disused old hotel, Domaine de la Barde, is being complicated by reports of an abandoned grave in the grounds.

When Bruno drives to the site with visiting US archaeologist Abby Howard – who is looking to start up a business as a specialist guide for American tourists interested in local history – they find three skeletons and a sealed box buried under a concrete slab deep inside the woods.

From papers and uniform insignia found in the box, it appears that the remains have lain there since 1944 and that they were two young German women from an anti-aircraft unit and an Italian submarine captain.

With the distinct possibility that the women were raped before they were killed, and implications both political and international, the long arm of history is reaching into the present and Bruno returns to work from sick leave knowing that he must investigate who the bones belong to, and find out whether their burial amounts to a war crime.

But Bruno has other concerns... after weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne River Vézère has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control its flow through St Denis, and bringing a devastating flood and threatening the town he polices... and the people he loves.

Walker’s richly descriptive and captivating series shows no sign of flagging as we meet up again with Bruno and his warm and sociable milieu, and follow an intriguing case which takes the wily detective from the beauty of Périgord into the dark heart of wartime history and some decidedly 21st century dangers that simmer close to home.

But this being Bruno, he also has time to indulge in some of his favourite things like taking his beloved basset hound Balzac for a stroll, meeting friends, organising youth rugby games, listening to music, and enjoying sumptuous Périgordian meals washed down by a 2009 Grand Millésime from Chateau de Tiregand.

And it is this eclectic mix which has turned Walker’s amiable detective into the culinary crime king of rural France as these must-read, atmospheric and wonderfully multi-layered whodunits magically morph into wish-you-were-here feasts accompanied by plentiful side-helpings of crime, history and intrigue.

Murder mysteries with a quintessentially French dressing…

(Quercus, hardback, £22)