Martin Walker

At the heart of French gastronomy lies the famed black truffle of the Périgord. But France's truffles are being adulterated with cheaper ones from China, and it seems that Chinese organised crime is behind the fraud. When a vicious murder and illegal immigration are added to the mix, Bruno, Chief of Police, has his work cut out to keep St Denis from tearing itself apart.  Book 3 of series.

A rich American art student is found dead at the bottom of a well in an ancient hilltop castle. The young woman, Claudia, had been working with an eminent French art historian at his art-filled chateau. As Claudia's White House connections get the FBI involved, Bruno traces the people and events that led to her fatal accident ? or was it murder? Bruno learns that Claudia had been trying to buy the chateau and art collection of her tutor, even while her research led her to suspect that some of his attributions may have been forged. The long arm of French history has reached out to find a new victim, but can Bruno identify the killer? Bruno, Book 12 of series.

It's Christmastime in the tiny French village of St. Denis and police chief Bruno Courreges is busy playing Pere Noel for the children. But when money raised for charity goes missing Bruno trades in his bag of toys for his badge and sets out to find the thief.  Book 5.5 of series

A bumper collection of delightful stories featuring Bruno, chief of police and France's favourite cop, all set in the beautiful Dordogne valley and the ravishing Perigord region of the south west. Here is a landscape of meandering rivers with medieval castles overlooking their banks, of lush hillsides and spreading vineyards, of delicious local wines and world renowned cuisine.

With titles like 'The Chocolate War', 'The Birthday Lunch', 'Oystercatcher', 'A Market Tale' and 'Fifty Million Bubbles', you may be sure that champagne and gastronomy will feature as well as cosy crime in 'Dangerous Vacation'. Bruno strides through these tales, staying calm, settling local disputes and keeping safe his beloved town of St Denis.

A short story collection linked to the Dordogne Mystery series.

Captain Bruno Courreges, Chief of Police (in fact the only policeman) in St Denis in rural south west France, investigates the death of an elderly North African man which seems to have its roots in the Second World War.  Book 1 of series.

Bruno, Chief of Police in the French town of St Denis, is already busy when the body of an undercover French Muslim cop is found, a man who called Bruno for help only hours before. Meanwhile, a Muslim youth named Sami turns up at an army base in Afghanistan hoping to get home to St Denis. Bruno must unravel these mysteries, and find a way to protect his town and its people.  Book 7 of series.

For 30 years, Bruno's boss, chief of detectives Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt J-J. A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis and never identified. For all these years, J-J has kept the skull as a reminder. He calls him 'Oscar'.

Visiting the famous pre-history museum in nearby Les Eyzies, Bruno sees some amazingly life-like heads expertly reconstructed from ancient skulls. He suggests performing a similar reconstruction on Oscar as a first step towards at last identifying him. An expert is hired to start the reconstruction and the search for Oscar's killer begins again in earnest.

 Book 14 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

In St Denis, a local archaeological team unearths a well-preserved skeleton. Yet it's a lot more recent than they'd hoped - boasting a Swatch on its wrist and a bullet-hole in its skull. Meanwhile, an influx of visitors makes Saint Denis unusually crowded, and the key to the body appears to lie with one of these outsiders. Bruno, Chief of Police, must think fast and keep his wits about him in order to work out how these events are connected. Especially if the answer lies a little closer to home.  Book 4 of series.

In the little town of St Denis in the Perigord a fire is raging in a local barn. When police chief Bruno arrives on the scene there is a strong smell of petrol, indicating an arson attempt. A violent death follows and Bruno is drawn into an investigation centring on plans by a Californian wine producer to set up a wine-making business.  Book 2 of series

In the the small town of St Denis, a female body has been found on a boat bearing the ghastly signs of a black magic ritual. Bruno, chief of police, must track down a murderer while quelling his town's superstitious fears. He and his colleagues are drawn ever closer to a climactic showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac - the place locals call the Devil's Cave...  Book 5 of series.

When Bruno is invited to the 90th birthday of a powerful local patriarch he encounters a family with more secrets than even he had imagined. When one of the other guests is found dead the next morning and the family try to cover it up, Bruno knows it's his duty to prevent the victim from becoming just another skeleton in their closet. Meanwhile, very modern battles are being fought in St Denis between hunters defending their traditions and environmentalists protecting local wildlife. Neither side, it seems, is above the use of violent tactics. At the centre of it all, Bruno must use all his cunning and character to protect his community's future from its present - and its past.  Book 8 of series.

When a local researcher turns up dead on Bruno's patch, and French intelligence starts investigating the use of classic car sales to launder money for funding Islamic terrorism, Bruno finds himself once more caught up in a case that reaches far beyond his small town and its people. With the bucolic charm and gourmet cooking that are the hallmarks of this series, Bruno's latest adventure finds him falling in love again as he races to find the murderer and to track down the fate of the most beautiful car ever made. Book 9 of series.

The long arm of history reaches into the present in Bruno's latest case when three sets of bones are discovered, buried deep in the woods outside the Dordogne town of St Denis. It appears that the remains have lain there since World War 2. Bruno must investigate who the bones belong to and whether their burial amounts to a war crime.

Bruno has other concerns too. After weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne river has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through St Denis, bringing the threat of a devastating flood.

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.  Book 17 of series.

Bruno, Chief of Police, is dealing with a wave of burglaries. The victims include the recently retired head of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, which brings old flame Isabelle back to St Denis. The next burglary ends in murder: the victim's bludgeoned body found by his lover - the prime suspect…He must now trace the links between past and present to restore peace in St Denis.  Book 6 of series.

Following the funeral of a local farmer, Bruno gets a phone call from his son. He tells Bruno that before his father's sudden death, he had signed over his property to an insurance company in return for a subscription to a luxury retirement home. Bruno discovers that both the retirement home and the insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch whose dealings are already being tracked by the French police.

Meanwhile an aging British rock star is selling his home, Chateau Rock. The star's son returns for the summer with his Russian girlfriend. As Bruno pursues his inquiries into the farmer's death and the stolen inheritance, he learns that the oligarch is none other than the girlfriend's father. Bruno's talents are tested to the limit as he untangles a Gordian Knot of criminality that reaches as far as the Kremlin.

Book 13 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

Bruno, now Chief of Police for the whole Vézère valley, has an unusual challenge to rise to: teaching at his friend Pamela's new cookery school. It is a daunting prospect - the disappearance of one of the school's pupils almost serves as a welcome distraction.

When the woman's body is discovered in one half of a double homicide, the evidence points to something far out of the ordinary. The other murder victim is a man, covered in combat scars and with a false passport. Investigations reveal a list of enemies as long as Bruno's arm. Any one of them would have had good reason to kill him - but which group managed it? And how did they find him?

As more of their mystery man's previous life is revealed, Bruno realizes that there may be more intended victims in the vicinity. Now he must conduct the biggest manhunt in St Denis' history to find the killers before they strike again.

Book 11 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

The body of a woman is found outside a cave beneath the ruined Templar chateau of Commarque in the heart of the Dordogne. She died of a broken neck. An accidental fall, or was she pushed? The victim carries no identification and her fingerprints are not known to the French Police or Interpol.

The chateau of Commarque, begun in the 11th century, was founded by a Bishop of Sarlat and entrusted to the Knights Templar. In the rocks beneath it are caves. It is one of the few Templar sites in France that has never been associated with the fabled hidden treasure of the Templars - never until now, when a local journalist publishes a sensational story around the unknown woman's death and a centuries-old mystery looks like it might finally be solved....

Book 10 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

It is summer in St Denis and Bruno is busy organising the annual village concert. He's hired a local Périgord folk group, Les Troubadours, to perform their latest hit 'A Song for Catalonia'. But when the song unexpectedly goes viral, the Spanish government, clamping down on the Catalonian bid for independence, bans Les Troubadours from performing it.

The timing couldn't be worse, and Bruno finds himself under yet more pressure when a specialist sniper's bullet is found in a wrecked car near Bergerac. The car was reportedly stolen on the Spanish frontier and the Spanish government sends warning that a group of nationalist extremists may be planning an assassination in France. Bruno immediately suspects that Les Troubadours and their audience might be in danger.

Bruno must organise security and ensure that his beloved town and its people are safe - the stakes are high for France's favourite policeman.

Book 15 in the Dordogne Mystery series.