Martin Walker continues Bruno, Chief of Police, in his adventures with French security forces at A Chateau Under Siege. A reenactment of French history has a French cyber security chief badly wounded. Bruno is tasked with the investigation and keeping business colleagues safe. Charming local touches and danger combine for a fast moving police procedural.

As a long time reader of Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police series, it is hard to resist a new book in the series. Martin stays true to his setting and characters, inviting us back to Bruno's beloved Perigord again and again. This latest installment has all the hallmarks, Chateaus, wine, international intrigue, and a colorful supporting cast of friends.

Bruno and friends go to nearby Sarlat to watch a reenactment of the 1370 liberation of the French town from the English. Near the end, the French hero falls on the step bleeding. The mayor tells Bruno that the hero actually lived for another 10 years. When they go down to look more closely, Bruno see a knife between his ribs along with lots of blood. The man playing the part is DuGuesclin, a very senior man at the security offices at Domme. His daughter, Nadia, was watching, and Fabiola takes Nadia home with her. The next morning Fabiola tells Bruno the ambulance did not take the man where they were supposed to go. He was taken to Domme.

Bruno then finds that he has a important job to protect Nadia, and a group of her father's friends while they stay at a Chateau. Nadia's estranged mother is staying in Domme, and her half sister Claire is also at the Chateau. A group of special forces is camping in the woods above the Chateau, and Bruno liaises with them and checks in. Bruno soon finds out that DuGuesclin is on a secret mission that no one is supposed to know about. Meanwhile there appears to be Russian spies near the Chateau.

Bruno still has time to cook his special meals, with very good descriptions. He also takes the guests of the Chateau on various sight seeing tours, while managing to call General Lannes in Paris for regular updates. And, as a sideline, there are a couple of women who have their eyes on Bruno!

This is a great addition to the Bruno series! I thank Netgalley and Knopf for the ARC.

A thoroughly enjoyable tale-the writing made you felt as though you were at the dining , listening to the concert. The history was fascinating and the plot delightful-ok I considered this a cozy mystery. I had selected and didn’t find I could read the previous title in this series however I found that one maybe not the same level as this was one but still enjoyable.

I make no secret of my enthusiasm for the Bruno Courreges series. It’s one of a few series that is truly intellectual, combining global politics, history and a good mystery. Lately Walker has been focusing on international threats to France and NATO. The Wagner Group even makes an appearance. And in this book, there’s even technological advances and cybersecurity in the mix. I had to resort to google and Wikipedia more than once to get an understanding of what was being discussed.
The premise here is that a high ranking French official who was running a nearby secret electronic surveillance base is seriously wounded while performing in an historical reenactment. The question is whether the wound was intentional or accidental. (I was disappointed that the blurb for the book gives way too much away. If you can help it, don’t read the blurb! ). It does somewhat strains credibility that numerous soldiers are sent to protect the daughters and rich friends of this man, who has been sent elsewhere. That said, the story is fascinating and totally kept my interest.
A great part of my enjoyment of this series is the interaction between Bruno and his friends. His friends finally come out and tell him he’s been missing a great romantic opportunity, something I’ve been thinking about for the last several books.
This is the first in the series I’ve read rather than listened to. And oh, what a delight to find the Author’s Notes, with a detailed accounting of what is real and what is fictional. It had me going back to the prior books to check out their author’s notes. It has once again sharpened my peeve that so many audiobooks don’t include them, when they’re so important.
My sadness is that I’m now caught up on the series and will need to wait for #17.
My thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Books for an advance copy of this book.

Another great book from Walker in the Bruno series - and rather prescient with his inclusion of the Wagner group, etc.

I'm a huge fan of this series, but this entry is a rare miss for me. It seemed almost half-finished, and there was very little tension. I love Bruno but also am kinda tired of his romances. (Either pick a woman or stop worrying about it, and get over Isabel. Sorry.)

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for providing an unbiased review.

4.25

Long time listener, first time reader.

In other words, way back when, when I had trouble getting into the very first St. Denis market scene, I started listening to the audiobooks for the Bruno series instead. Though at first it reminded me of the simpleton narration of a Thomas the Tank Engine episode, the availability of all of the audiobooks on Scribd and a little time made me a fan of Robert Ian MacKenzie.

Unfortunately, as most advanced copies of books are in text form, my eagerness to read the newest Bruno mystery outweighed my ability to wait for the audiobook. Naturally, Robert Ian MacKenzie also narrated most of this book as well, except it was all in my head. I may also listen to the audiobook when it is released because there are names that I just am dying to know how to pronounce.

For the Balzac lovers out there, which is obviously all of us, there is a lot of basset loving going on in this book, so there’s four stars for you already. It’s a lot of the same formula as the previous 15 books where small town cop gets involved in huge terrorist/espionage/suspicious death situation. Just another day at the Marie. I liked that Bruno commented, except only in his head, that all this work was done as part of his regular small-town salary. He doesn’t get paid any extra for all of this life and death world-domination-prevention work. Maybe if the general was thoughtful and generous with the remuneration, Bruno would develop a taste for the finer things in life and want to accept a job in Paris. Of course, 1. As if! 2. He’s already a gourmet chef and those truffles and foie gras in Paris can be found in his own back yard. 3. Good salary in Paris is homeless in St. Denis.

<b> Spoiler Alert </b>

<spoiler>It’s cruel for Martin Walker to toss us a Bruno-and-Florence ball in the last book and then stomp all over our hearts this time. It could be that it was all of the village having “the talk” with him about Florence that subconsciously deterred him from her. I hope so. It would have been the perfect time, since Isabelle is not physically present and only minimal contact is made. Her first comment about Balzac being her only man was hopeful. The last comment about Bruno while he was in a hospital bed on drugs was just the last straw. His decision to remain single for the foreseeable future because he has a lot going on is BS. He doesn’t shy away from the helping others or any excitement and is raising Balzac so what’s a family gonna change? Florence is a very capable, modern woman with a great schedule. They may need to live on campus until the kids start school though because who know how far Bruno’s little farm is?!

It was also interesting to see Florence show some emotion. I always thought it was strange for her not to exhibit much emotion towards Bruno after he basically saved her life from poverty and despair and a violent ex husband (or husband if you’re Catholic).

Now I really want to have the audiobook so I can analyze the whole situation. Sixteen books is plenty of time to let the professional bachelor fall in love (real love, not impossible Isabelle infatuation), Mr. Walker! If we had to wait 16 seasons for two characters to get together, well, we wouldn’t, because a show like that would be cancelled! </spoiler>

Side Note: what does Bruno even look like? I assume he is handsome, but a lot of the female attention seems to come after they find out that he’s an amazing cook, hero, veteran, and has an awesome basset hound. I can’t recall ever hearing any descriptions of his physical features. Just saying.

As for the plot of the book, it is unbelievable and absurd, even more than some others (and not as much as even more), but with all of the Balzac and sexual tension/romantic interventions, that was not my priority. Claire’s interest was just trouble and only helped in that it finally revealed Florence’s interest. I loved little Patty, and it was fun to imagine the castle and all of the money the guests have that I don’t. Actually, I felt kind of pathetic. The twins literally popping up at the end would have improved my mood except for what happened after that. Dun dun dun.

I know, terrible review if you really want to know about the plot of the book and don’t care about the emotions. You are obviously dead inside. I am anti-reading books out of order, but it definitely wouldn’t work with this one (barring your aforementioned lobotomy). I struggled to remember when he first met the parachute brigade and all of these other previously mentioned characters. I read too many books to remember the details after a year or more has passed.

This is the sixteenth installment of Martin Walker’s popular Bruno Chief of Police series. It’s a good mystery with some intrigue thrown in. The characters continue to grow and change, which is nice. Bruno’s complicated romantic life continues, as does his ability to cook magnificent meals which are lovely described. It’s a good addition to the series.

Bruno is spending a lovely evening in Sarlat with his group of friends. They've gathered to watch a reenactment of the town's liberation from the British in the Hundred Years War. The evening turns deadly when the play's hero is stabbed and it is feared, fatally wounded. The injured man is whisked away to the hospital but the local medical providers are concerned at the unorthodox procedure for such a grave injury.
Bruno is immediately drawn into controlling the crowd and trying to find the person who stabbed Kerquelin.
The injured man had booked a chateau for a gathering of family and guests. When the guest list shows that all those invited are all important players in chip fabrication, each from different countries, Bruno knows the meeting has international implications.
Bruno is once again portrayed as Supercop! He's handsome, a gourmet chef, loves children, dogs and horses and is a friend and helper to those in his town of St.Denis. Women can't resist him and he's easily seduced. All the usual characters appear in the sixteenth entry in the series along with a few new ones.
There's lots of French history and current political intrigue that sometimes goes on too long and I breathed a sigh of relief when Bruno finds time to produce marvelous meals at the drop of a hat; The descriptions of which made my mouth water!
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced readers copy/