Reviews

Publishers Weekly
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The discovery at an archeological dig of a corpse dating back only to the 1980s, with a gunshot wound to the head, is but the first of several problems facing St. Denis police chief Bruno Courreges in Walker's appealing fourth mystery set in France's Perigord region (after 2011's Black Diamond). Bruno also has to worry about a potential terrorist threat to a high-profile meeting between French and Spanish officials in St. Denis. To make matters worse, the town's newly installed investigating magistrate is a stickler who takes health code violations seriously in a community where people often slaughter their own livestock, with or without a license. Finally, at a time when PETA activists are stirring up trouble, the magistrate launches a campaign against the sacred foie gras. Walker hits the sweet spot of balancing humor and drama, and his food descriptions will leave readers fantasizing about dining in the Perigord. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Felicity Bryan Associates. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Police Chief Bruno Courreges, of the small French town of St. Denis, has a lot on his plate here besides his lovely foie gras. There are PETA demonstrations against local farmers who raise geese; a recent body has turned up at an archaeological dig just before an important discovery is announced; the professor in charge of the dig then disappears; and a planned summit, fraught with security concerns, is about to take place between French and Spanish officials on an agreement about Basque terrorism. At the same time, Courreges' new magistrate, a feminist vegetarian who finds foie gras not just cruel but barbaric, joins forces with another local lawman in a vendetta against Bruno, who occasionally cuts corners to achieve humanitarian ends. The fourth installment in this series (after Black Diamond, 2011) is largely a lighthearted celebration of the Perigord region of France, up to its action-packed climax, but the damage and loss sustained there fail to dim the prevailing atmosphere of dappled sunlight and good food and wine and friends. A pleasure for Francophiles, oenophiles, and the palate.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist


Library Journal
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Local police chief Bruno Courreges returns with his fourth case (after Black Diamond) set in France's bucolic Dordogne region. A beautiful spring day darkens when a dead body turns up at the local archaeological dig site. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/12.] (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.