pastoral pleasures amidst lurking political dangers.

It’s an extraordinary gift to be able to create a story successfully celebrating the rich detailed rewards of a generous rural community simultaneously threatened by the poisonous inheritance of the global political past.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Enjoyable read

Another good story in the Inspector Bruno series set in the Dordogne region of France with lots of Gallic charm and atmosphere. Very ably read by Bill Wallis

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

Typically French

Lovely story so typical of french life. The treatment of the new magistrate by the farmers is very funny. The description of the food & recipes is mouthwatering. A great read.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

Very enjoyable version of the book.

Another good performance of the Bruno stories, in this one I found the final story elements even better than the book due to the readers performance. Brilliant.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Just Brilliant.

I am new to the Bruno books and I love them. Great storylines, great characters, great narration. !

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Excellent book

Full of action, with great characters, who bring the French countryside to life. A really enjoyable read.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Bruno

Well crafted story. Great reading style. Nice character interplay, overall good edition in the series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Charming but complicated

I had to rewind quite a few times as I got lost in the plot. There are many characters and a lot going on in the French countryside along the banks of the Dordogne.

Bruno our action man hero , who is forty, is voiced like a pensioner and it is hard to believe he has the energy to court the village females who are lining up for his attention,let alone save the village of St Denis from the perils of sabotage.

The last chapters are worth waiting f or as this novel is very busy en route to the finale.

However the French setting is the star. I am being hooked into this series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Paradise has evil prowling round

Bruno is village bobby (lowest echelon of complex French police) in an idyllic rural district in Périgord. He has had a difficult life, as abandoned orphan and then soldier in some very unpleasant French wars and UN actions. Glad to say he doesn't make great capital of this - "poor little me" - but he would prefer to live a good life in his tiny community, under the patronage of the wily Maire. He'd like a wife and family, but his women so far include the ambitious semi-spy Isabelle, and the hearty horsey cold-hearted Englishwoman Pamela, who uses him like a whore. (She has family in Scotland, too, so she's probably got a dark past in the Clearances! No chance for you, Bruno, you're a plaything!)
Conspiracy and secrets of decades enshroud this quiet part of la France profonde. There's a Welsh student who turns out to be English, even though he's good at rugby! Nothing's as it seems, and violence breaks the peaceful existence of Saint Denis, as surprising as if ISIS attacked Stornaway.
Surely in a future book, Bruno will find a suitable woman to share his life; he can cook, coach rugby and tennis, avoid village feuds - forget that red faced English harridan, with her colonial aspirations towards France and Scotland for a start; what about Fabiola the doctor?

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

An absolute joy!

After binge-listening to three Bruno books in the past five days, I genuinely feel like a St. Denis resident! "The Crowded Grave" is another excellent mystery full of the charming scenery of rural France and mouthwatering culinary moments.
I am really falling in love with the series - it has intelligent and intriguing mysteries with fascinating historical connections, it's excellently written, paced and plotted, and the French rural settings and culinary references give the books a cosy and soothing atmosphere.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful