The Crowded Grave—A Mystery of the French Countryside

Another delectable serving of mystery and the pleasures of the Dordogne from the newest master of suspense, Martin Walker.

It’s spring in the idyllic village of St. Denis, and for Chief of Police Bruno Courreges that means lamb stews, bottles of his beloved Pomerol, morning walks with his hound, Gigi—and a new string of regional crimes and international capers. When a local archaeological team looking for Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal remains turns up a corpse with a watch on its wrist and a bullet in its head, it’s up to Bruno to solve the case. But the task will not be easy, not with a meddlesome new magistrate eager to make a strong impression, an ongoing series of attacks by animal rights activists on local foie gras producers, and a nearby summit between France and Spain approaching—not to mention two beautiful, brilliant women vying for Bruno’s affections.

Complicating events even further, the professor in charge of the dig is soon reported missing, leading Bruno to suspect that the past and the present are bound up in dangerous ways. As summer approaches, the wine growing cooler and the fruit sweeter, Bruno's investigations take him indelibly deeper into contemporary Europe’s dark history of terrorist and counterterrorist tactics—and toward a dramatic finale.

As savory as foie gras, as piquant as vin de noix, and as richly complex as the region’s truffles, The Crowded Grave is a feast for mystery lovers and Francophiles alike.

MARTIN WALKER is senior director of the Global Business Policy Council, a private think tank for CEOs of major corporations, based in Washington, D.C. He is also editor in chief emeritus and an international affairs columnist at United Press International. His three previous novels in the Bruno series are Bruno, Chief of Police; The Dark Vineyard; and Black Diamond. He lives in Washington, D.C., and the Dordogne.