A Grave in the Woods

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 Bruno's archaeologist friend Clothilde asks him to help Abby, an American woman who wants to settle in the Perigord after a grim divorce back in the United States. Abby hopes to become an official tour guide in the region, specializing in American connections, from Thomas Jefferson to Henry Miller, from the Lindbergh family to the paratroopers who dropped into the region in the summer of 1944 to support the Resistance. But that long ago summer suddenly pushes its way into the present with the revelation of three sets of bones buried deep in the woods. Bruno must find out whose bones they are and whether their burial amounts to a war crime. He is further distracted when nature takes its toll and the normally tranquil Dordogne river rises to record levels that threaten the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through the town of St Denis. 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 is a prize-winning journalist and the author of several acclaimed works of non-fiction, including The Cold War: A History. He lives in the Dordogne and Washington, D.C.