Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Helpful Score: 1
If you ever find yourself in need of a pleasant escape into a mystery filled with good people, good food, and good wine, the only place you should head to is southwest France in Martin Walker's Bruno Chief of Police mysteries. In this series, friendship, food, wine, history, and culture are every bit as important as the mystery, which-- in the case of The Coldest Case-- is a very interesting one indeed. I enjoyed watching how facial reconstruction put new life into an old investigation and how trying to identify a killer led to the shadowy doings of the Stasi. Readers can count on Walker to put history into context in this modern world. I know he's certainly given me a better understanding of Europe in general and France in particular.
Living in Arizona as I do and having seen over a million acres of forest consumed by fire (it's not all rocks and sand here, folks), I took particular interest in how Bruno and other officials prepared for fighting wildfires. How they could evacuate residents. Safe places they could stay. Getting those places ready. Evacuation routes. And on and on. These preparations take a lot of planning and a lot of people to carry those plans out. Walker not only brings readers right into the middle of these preparations, but he also has them coughing from the smoke and hearing the crackling of the flames.
But no Bruno mystery is ever complete without the camaraderie to be found at a table filled with mouth-watering food and wine. As an added bonus, Bruno's beloved Basset hound Balzac is now a father-- there are puppies!
Although Bruno is beginning to give up hope that he will ever find the right woman so he can have a family of his own, I haven't yet-- although I do wonder if a wife and children will hamper Bruno's investigative skills... or enhance them. If you're a newcomer to these Bruno mysteries, you could read The Coldest Case as a standalone, but I really wouldn't advise it. You would be missing out on all the wonderful things this series has to offer. Vive, Bruno!
Living in Arizona as I do and having seen over a million acres of forest consumed by fire (it's not all rocks and sand here, folks), I took particular interest in how Bruno and other officials prepared for fighting wildfires. How they could evacuate residents. Safe places they could stay. Getting those places ready. Evacuation routes. And on and on. These preparations take a lot of planning and a lot of people to carry those plans out. Walker not only brings readers right into the middle of these preparations, but he also has them coughing from the smoke and hearing the crackling of the flames.
But no Bruno mystery is ever complete without the camaraderie to be found at a table filled with mouth-watering food and wine. As an added bonus, Bruno's beloved Basset hound Balzac is now a father-- there are puppies!
Although Bruno is beginning to give up hope that he will ever find the right woman so he can have a family of his own, I haven't yet-- although I do wonder if a wife and children will hamper Bruno's investigative skills... or enhance them. If you're a newcomer to these Bruno mysteries, you could read The Coldest Case as a standalone, but I really wouldn't advise it. You would be missing out on all the wonderful things this series has to offer. Vive, Bruno!
