It is generally agreed that the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to lose a child. This is the premise of Karin Fossum's excellent new novel, BLACK SECONDS. Small and unpretentious in scale yet deep in meaning, as is usual with Fossum's books, the story begins when nine-year-old Ida Joner goes missing on her way to buy a comic and some sweets at the local newsagent. Helga, her distraught mother, reports her missing, but the girl seems to have vanished without a trace.
Inspector Sejer and his colleague Jacob Skarre, familiar from previous books, investigate the disappearance. They have little to go on, however, as nobody seems to have seen the girl while she was on her errand, and a search of the area by local volunteers reveals no clues.
As the days go by with no news of Ida, we see the effects of the disappearance on her parents, on Helga's sister Ruth and her family, and on Emil Johannes, a rather simple local character with an overbearing mother. Worry, guilt and fear affect this small cast of characters, invading every aspect of their lives and corroding relationships. The partnership between Sejer and Skarre is sparse yet charming, each man with his own strength, with a mutual respect leading to an attractive and fruitful partnership. Neither man is prepared to "let things go", so the reader is sure that, however long it takes, the detectives will solve the crime and see that justice is done.
It isn't that difficult to guess at how Ida vanished, given the clues provided at the start of the book, although there are several unpredictable twists and turns along the way. In particular there is a moving little sub-plot involving a nightdress which speaks volumes about the person concerned. But the "whodunit" aspect isn't the main point of Fossum's account - the events she describes in this slow burn of a book allow us to see how a small, focused cast of characters think, feel and live against a background of increasing suspense and dread. The writing and the translation (by Charlotte Barslund) are excellent. Karin Fossum's last book, CALLING OUT FOR YOU, was shortlisted for the CWA dagger in 2006. If possible, BLACK SECONDS is even better.
As with her debut novel UNSEEN, Mari Jungstedt sets UNSPOKEN on the Swedish island of Gotland; many of the same characters feature. Six months after the events of the first novel, winter is setting in, and Chief Inspector Anders Knutas and his team hear of the discovery of the body of Henry Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom was a professional photographer, but had lost his business and his family due to alcoholism. As UNSPOKEN opens, Dahlstrom has a big win on the horses, but before he has chance to drink away the proceeds, he is found murdered in the basement of his apartment block. Knutas and his team dig into the life of the dead man, interviewing his various drinking companions and following up other leads. It isn't until Johan Berg, the news reporter who featured in UNSEEN, returns to Gotland, that a significant lead is found. Johan's return to the island allows him to resume his on-off relationship with schoolteacher Emma. In UNSPOKEN, reality has set in since their initial encounter, as Emma wrestles with her love for her children and for Johan, trying to reconcile her sense of duty with her feelings.
In the meantime, a far darker tragedy is playing out. Fanny is an unhappy 14-year-old schoolgirl with no friends her own age. Her mother is an alcoholic who thinks only of herself, depending on Fanny for most of her emotional and practical needs; her father is an African musician who already had a family when he had a brief affair with Fanny's mother, and whose contact has been sporadic at best since the girl was born. Fanny's insecurities and loneliness make her easy prey for an older man, who is initially friendly but who turns out to have a far more sinister interest in the teenage girl. These sections of UNSPOKEN are truly uncomfortable to read, as the author effectively conveys Fanny's experiences of living with an alcoholic, emotionally immature mother and the claustrophobic sense of dread as Fanny's predator draws closer, seemingly aware that the girl has nobody to help her. Eventually, the girl vanishes after a shift working at the stables, and her mother reluctantly calls the police.
Knutas and his team continue doggedly to follow up the leads in the two cases, more than once wondering if they are related, but without any evidence. The story is told against the backdrop of Knutas's domestic life as well as the irritations and small pleasures of the interactions between the members of the police team. The relationship between Emma and Johan becomes increasingly desperate, both of them longing to be together, but Emma increasingly unable to reconcile her love for Johan with her role in her family.
UNSPOKEN is a great read, particularly strong in conveying the frailties of human emotion and in the juxtapositions of the police investigation with the media's reporting as well as the domestic lives of the characters. In the end, the solution to the cases is a bit of a cheat, as the identity of the villain relies on information we were not told earlier in the book, and has rather a "pulled out of the hat" sense to it. But the human dramas remain, and I look forward to reading more about Gotland in Mari Jungstedt's next book.
In a bracing dash of Norwegian noir contrasting with the snow white of an Oslo winter, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT opens just after Igi Heitmann's father, a private detective, has been killed in a hit and run accident. Igi is a disturbed young woman who has never got over her parents' divorce when she was 12: she hates her stepfather (a businessman) and despises her mother; she can't stick at her career as a psychology researcher at the local hospital; and has married Benny, a gay transvestite.
This is a cracking start to an excellent novel. In the wake of her father's death, Igi can't settle to domestic bliss with Benny, of whom she is very fond despite the superficially obvious incompatibilities, so she decides to camp out at her father's office, in a seedy part of town. She discovers among the paperwork on the desk that Heitmann had been investigating the disappearance of a young woman, Siv Underland, from the neighbouring satellite town of Asker. More for therapy than for any other reason, Igi decides to continue his investigation.
Igi slowly but doggedly talks to everyone connected with the missing girl: Siv's parents, neighbours and colleagues as well as various strange members of the younger generation, as it turns out that Siv seemed to have been involved in witchcraft and drugs. Soon, Igi ties in Siv's disappearance with that of another girl, Petra, some years before, and, together with her father's old partner from his days in the police, begins to piece together the story of what happened in the past.
In this brief book, the author ties in many strands of Norwegian society in a tapestry of social comment: business deals between unprincipled men; blackmail; gambling; medical malpractice; and the spectre of child abuse. At the same time, the reader comes to know and sympathise with Igi's rootlessness and sense of detachment, and to like her friends and quirky husband (perhaps the most solid character in the book). She's also a very clear thinker about science and probability, as well as determined to get to the bottom of things without being deflected. Igi is very comfortable in the alternative society, and can't settle in the respectable, bourgeois and comfortable "norm". It is her willingness to follow up any lead, and her lack of judgemental reaction to everyone she meets, however initially repellent, that eventually leads her to a solution to the events of the past. As the book ends, she is beginning to accept a more conformist future, but time (in the shape of the next book in the series, THE GOLDEN SECTION) will tell. I think this is a wonderful book, and particularly liked the way that the author portrayed its many fleeting characters so tellingly. The star, however, is the uncompromising character of Igi.
Jill Kennedy is a forensic psychologist who has recently moved to the village of Kelton, in northern England. She has decided on a new career of writing, no longer able to work with the police after her profile of a serial killer led to the wrong man being arrested and tried. She is enjoying life in the village, meeting a set of standard characters - lord and lady of the manor, estate agent, vicar and his wife and teenage son, builder, post-office lady, headmaster and his wife, local historian and her ailing husband - in the opening chapters. The idyll is soon shattered, however, by two events: the serial killer is still at large and is now stalking Jill; and the vicar's wife is found brutally murdered, apparently by her son.
Jill, herself a widow, has previously had a relationship with widower DCI Max Trentham. Max was in charge of the serial killer case, but was taken off it when the wrong man was arrested. He and Jill have broken up, but Max is still keen on Jill and tries to regain her affections as well as to protect her from the stalker. Jill is attracted to him but is wary of rekindling their relationship after Max betrayed her by having a brief affair. However, she misses his two sons and his mother-in-law, and cannot seem to get very enthusiastic about any of the relatively large field of available males (read: suspects) in the vicinity.
Much of the book covers village life as Don Cornwall, the policeman who has taken over the serial killer case but who himself is presented as a suspicious character, tries to identify the real culprit - or does he? Max is assigned the case of the death of the vicar's wife, so there is plenty of scope for rivalry and confusion as Jill is reluctantly drawn back into the serial-killer investigation as well as trying to befriend the distraught son of the vicar after his mother's murder. Could the perpetrator, in fact, be connected to the earlier case?
The action is fast in INTO THE SHADOWS, but quite a bit of it is not that realistic. For example, Jill receives notes and tokens from the killer, but although she changes her locks and has a police guard, nobody searches her attic (where the villain is hiding out) or garden (where he lurks). And in the end, one feels that the villain could be any of the various stock male characters hanging around the capable, attractively independent Jill.
Despite the slightly formulaic, "cosy" plot, the book is unpretentious and readable - I like the imperfect yet warm characters of Jill and Max, both dealing with personal tragedies yet getting on with their lives. The book is somewhat in the Agatha Christie "Murder in the Vicarage" category with a modern slant, perfect for whiling away a wet Sunday afternoon. I hope there will be more outings for Jill, Max and Max's sons, mother-in-law and dogs.
Third in the Simon Serrailler trilogy, and the most exciting, THE RISK OF DARKNESS continues the story from where THE PURE IN HEART left off, with the Lafferton police depressed after the child abductions. Simon is restless, wanting more excitement in his life. His sister Cat, a local GP, as usual has a huge workload. Particularly poignant is her young patient Lizzie, who has variant CJD. At the start of the book, Lizzie moves into a hospice, and her distraught husband Max cracks up, taking hostage Jane Fitzroy, a trainee priest.
A child disappears in Yorkshire, and Simon is asked to help the local force in the hunt. This time, the probable perpetrator is caught in a way that certainly fulfils Simon's desire for adventure. But is there any connection with the previous cases? A war of minds is about to begin, becoming the background running through the rest of this tense story.
As before in this series, all the characters have their own concerns which inform and round-out the thriller plot. Cat and her husband Chris, increasingly ground down by the inhumane bureaucracy of the UK medical system, struggle to find an option for their lives and careers that they both can cope with. Jane's elderly mother is attacked, and we become aware of the struggles and difficulties in their relationship. We meet the mother of the suspect, and see how dramatically her life changes as a result of the arrest. Again, tragedy strikes Simon and Cat's own family.
The sympathy the author has for the viewpoints of all her characters, combined with unflinching storytelling, make this book a really great read. Susan Hill has the gift of understanding her characters on the most human of levels, while conveying them to the reader in a completely unsentimental way.
A GREATER EVIL is the eighth Trish Maguire book, but my first - I enjoyed it a lot, and it didn't matter that I hadn't read the earlier titles. Although the murder near the start of the book is of the grimmest variety - a heavily pregnant woman is bludgeoned to death - the story is told briskly and in an upbeat manner, yet acknowledging head-on the tragedies of fact and emotion uncovered by this event.
Trish Maguire is a successful lawyer, representing the loss-adjusters for a dispute over a prestigious new London building, the Arrow, which has developed structural cracks. Before the insurance company will pay out, it has to be determined how the error arose: was it due to the architects who designed the building, to the construction engineers, or some other cause?
As Trish is working through the mathematics of the engineers' calculations, a task she relishes, she is visited by Sam Foundling, a well-known sculptor. Trish is an admirer of Sam's work, even having previously bought a piece, without realising until his visit that he is an old client. Years ago, when Sam was 12, Trish helped him escape his abusive foster parents. Because he had been abandoned at a hospital entrance when a baby, and because of his hatred for his foster parents, Sam has in the interim changed his name to Foundling, hence Trish had no idea that the sculptor she admires is the same man she helped as a boy.
As an adult, Sam is constantly on an emotional tight fuse, and although distraught that Trish doesn't remember him, goes on to reveal why he has come to see her: he has received a letter from his birth mother, currently in Holloway prison, who wants to make contact with her long-lost son. Trish advises Sam as best she can, promising to find out more about the woman and her motives. It isn't long before Trish hears that Sam's wife Cecilia, whom Trish knows professionally as part of the consortium of legal counsel for the firms trying to reach a deal on the Arrow debacle, was killed that same morning, and that Sam is the prime suspect.
Before she died, Cecilia had told Trish that coincidences made her uneasy. A GREATER EVIL is full of such connections - every character seems to know every other character by at least two independent methods. The chief police officer investigating the crime is Trish's friend Caro - but their very different views on the identity of the criminal soon cause a breakdown in their relationship. Trish's domestic life is similarly complicated: her lover is George, a senior partner of another law firm, who is himself suffering from office politics resulting from Trish's actions in the Arrow case, as the two firms are representing different interested parties. Trish's young half-brother David lives with her: he and Trish share a traumatic past that has clearly featured in previous books. The dead woman's mother, Gina, is a high-court judge whom Trish knows and respects.
Everyone except Trish thinks Sam killed his wife in a fit of temper. Trish's sense of past loyalty to Sam, and her guilt at her earlier forgetfulness, make her determined to prove his innocence. Her tenacity begins to reveal yet more coincidences: first she identifies an old fiancé of Cecilia's who is also involved in the Arrow negotiations; second, she discovers the story of Cecilia's father and his possible involvement; and third, as Trish digs yet further into the architect's mathematics with a bullied colleague of the dead woman, she begins to wonder what Cecilia had found out, and whether in fact she was silenced in the most final way possible for purely financial motives.
Packed full of plot, the book is a racy, bracing read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought some aspects were a bit throw-away, for example the genetic research described seemed to me to be an over-simplistic extrapolation from the laboratory to behaviour, and the sheer number of connections were too many for me to find believable. And although Caro is subject to police office politics, I found it strange that she should so emphatically reject every piece of evidence and every alternative suggestion Trish puts to her throughout the book, until very near the end - the two women have previously been through various ordeals together which have supposedly cemented their friendship. Yet the core of the book is strong, particularly as the initially unsympathetic Sam gradually learns to cope with adversity and life's challenges. The reader comes to respect his uncompromising if abrasive nature, and its change to something softer as he rediscovers his lost talent, together with a new optimism.
Donna Leon is back on top form in her latest Commissario Brunetti novel set in Venice, THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS. The main appeal, for me, is the beautiful sense of place and way of life that unfolds in leisurely style. In the first hundred pages of this short book, the only plot event is when Antonin Scallon, a priest and schoolboy friend of Brunetti's brother (but emphatically not of Brunetti himself) asks Brunetti to look into a case of Leonardi Mutti, leader of a cult who, thinks Scallon, is fleecing people of their money. Brunetti's reaction to the request is strongly coloured by the fact that he disliked the priest when they were schoolmates, but he reluctantly interviews an old, retired priest with whom Scallon is living, and persuades his wife Paola, together with Captain Vianello and his wife, to attend a fundraiser hosted by Mutti.
By page 100 the book's easy rhythm has drawn the reader into Brunetti's world as he goes about his daily business. But the routine is rudely interrupted by the awful discovery of a body in the canal: after Brunetti and Vianello retrieve it, in a clammy scene, the corpse horrifically turns out to be that of a girl who seems to be about 12 years old. Further gruesome facts emerge as the body is examined by the pathologist. Brunetti, who has been reading the Greek dramatists, is deeply affected by the discovery: "He could not bring himself, not that night, to read of the death of Astyanax. He closed his eyes, and the greater darkness brought him the memory of the dead child, the feel of the silk threads of her hair around his wrist." Brunetti applies his detective skills to the case, using his knowledge of the city and the currents of its canals to identify the likely site of the death, and discovering that the girl was a gypsy, or as he is told to call her, a Rom, from one of the immigrant communities living in a camp site over the causeway on the industrial wastes of the Italian mainland.
During the ensuing investigation, Brunetti collaborates with the local police and the social services as well as following up his own leads, all subjects for the author to provide her ironic perspectives on the moral values among the richest and the poorest families in society, as well as her wider observations. At home, for example, Brunetti's teenaged daughter comments that at school her teachers tell her that the Mafia is being fought in a war by the police and the government, to which Paola, Brunetti's wife, replies: "Can you name a war that has been going on for sixty years? In Europe? We've had it ever since the real war ended and the Americans brought the Mafia back to help fight the menace….of international Communism. So, instead of having the risk that the Communists might have entered the government after the war, we've got the Mafia, and we'll have them round our necks for ever." Or, when Paola's mother tells Brunetti her husband's views after a trip to Sicily and Calabria: "Since both places belong to the Mafia and the government has no effective control over them, he thinks it's linguistically correct to refer to them as the Occupied Territories."
But THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS is far from being a political tract. It is a book that shows enormous empathy with the human condition via Brunetti's interviews with various witnesses, suspects and the family of the dead girl, all infused with a kind of accepting disgust at the inevitable differences of life as experienced by the rich and the poor. Brunetti and his colleagues mourn the dead girl and do the right thing by her; and in the process, Brunetti comes to understand Scallon, developing a very different view of him to that which he rather arrogantly held at the outset.
In his accomplished follow-up to his best-selling debut THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH, Simon Beckett sends his protagonist, forensic archaeologist David Hunter, to the remote Scottish island of Ruma. When a burnt corpse is discovered in an isolated hut, the mainland police are informed, as there is no police presence on the island itself. But Superintendent Graham Wallace has too much on his plate to investigate, as he is coping with a train crash that might be the result of terrorism, so he asks David to travel to Ruma and to let him know if the death was suspicious. The body was discovered by Andrew Brody, an ex-police detective who has taken early retirement and gone to live on the island. Because Brody is retired, Wallace isn't keen to use his services officially, and instead sends the boorish Sergeant Fraser and a young rookie, Duncan, to accompany David for his examination of the corpse. David and Fraser meet several key characters on the ferry crossing to Ruma, followed up by a few more at the local hotel after they arrive.
David wants to get on with his task so that he can return to London and his girlfriend Jenny, who is not happy about the length of David's absence or his workaholism. But before David can get too far with his investigation, a severe storm hits the island, which causes all kinds of havoc, not least delaying the much-needed police reinforcements from the mainland.
I've read many crime-fiction stories set in remote spots in order for the authors to conveniently isolate a small group of suspects from the rest of society, and where the reader can have fun trying to stay a step ahead of the detective. WRITTEN IN BONE is extremely effective in this regard - David, Brody and Fraser find themselves increasingly isolated and in danger, as more people are killed, buildings are set on fire, and the storm (as well as a human hand) wrecks communication channels. The suspects include a young South African millionaire and his stunning wife - a childless couple who spend their time doing good works and stimulating the island's economy. Other characters include Maggie, a keen but green young journalist; Ellen, the supportive owner of the hotel, who has her own worries; and various suspicious, inward-looking locals who don't take kindly to what they see as outside interference.
An atmosphere of unease and seething resentment is ably conveyed, in which Brody and David struggle to keep the investigation on an even keel - not helped by Fraser's drinking and habit of blurting out confidential information to the wrong people. WRITTEN IN BONE is superbly and tightly plotted and proceeds at a thrilling pace. It really is a page-turner. My only small caveat is an occasional heavy-handedness: twice, for example, characters hint to David that they know something significant, but on both occasions are killed before they can reveal any clues. This is only a minor gripe - the book as a whole is an assured account, with the forensic details seeming authentic and unflinching, but not dwelling unnecessarily on the grim details. I knew I'd got the identity of the villain wrong when David reaches the same conclusion too easily. Sure enough, not one but three major twists follow. The middle one of these did not seem to hang together that well, but the first and last are satisfyingly shocking - and we are now on a cliffhanger until the next book in the series. I hope we don't have to wait too long to read it.
A CARRION DEATH is a rip-roaring read. Set in Botswana, the main character is Assistant Superintendent David "Kubu" Bengu. He's a very large man (hence the nickname, which means "hippo") who loves opera and is happy to be under the thumb of his lovely wife Joy and be the dutiful son to his elderly, traditional parents. The action begins when a body is discovered in the desert. The victim has been almost completely eaten by hyenas, but some scientists on a local field trip stumble across the remains before they vanish for good.
Kubu is called to the scene, and immediately suspects that the dead man was murdered, a suspicion that is soon confirmed by the pathologist. We quickly see that as well as being an engaging man, Kubu is keenly intelligent, intuitive and determined. His investigation into the identity of the body takes him to the heart of the Botswana Cattle and Mining Company, run by the somewhat unpleasant-seeming Cecil Hofmeyr.
The action switches to six weeks earlier. We learn that Cecil has been chairman and chief executive of the company since the death of his brother in an air crash about fifteen years ago. Family tensions are running high, because Dianna and Angus, Cecil's twin niece and nephew, are due to inherit their dead father's lion's share of the company on their thirtieth birthdays in a few days' time. Cecil is clearly up to some dodgy deals involving investing company money in a personal venture, a diamond mine, and is keen for the twins not to discover his activities. His machinations infuriate Dianna, who is highly qualified in economics and has a big chip on her shoulder because her father always preferred her playboy brother Angus as his heir to the business. Kubu is an old school friend of Angus, and the two men are pleased to be briefly reunited at the twins' birthday celebrations. Also at the party is Kubu's boss Jacob Makabu, a golfing friend of Cecil's.
After a couple of these temporal digressions, we return to the murder investigation, and Kubu's increasing awareness that the diamond mine is a focus of the mystery. One of its geologists, Aron Frankental, has disappeared after writing to Cecil about his suspicions about the diamonds being mined. His letter is stolen from Cecil's office, but after reporting the fact, Cecil is strangely reluctant for the police to pursue the matter. To add to the complexity, Dianna is having an affair with the mine's manager and Cecil's co-investor, Jason Ferraz, who has his own agenda.
The story continues with great verve, and the pace never flags as more complexities are added to the mix. Kubu is good at turning up leads, but witnesses and suspects disappear - each time he comes up with a hypotheses, an inconsistency renders it impossible or someone is attacked and put out of the running. He is also slightly suspicious of his boss, who is friends with Cecil and who has to keep in with his political superiors: what support will Kubu receive if these influential people turn out to be in the frame?
A CARRION DEATH is very long, but it is a great read. It is full of action and adventure, yet very strong on characterisation. The identity of the villain and the motivation for the crime are obvious very early on, so most of the satisfaction in the plot involves working out the details of how the various aspects fit together.
The depiction of Botswanan life and culture is fascinating, as are the ins and outs of the boardroom politics. The characters come from different backgrounds, races and cultures: the post-colonial theme is not heavy-handed but it permeates the book. We see how institutions and characters have adapted and are adapting to independence, and how some attitudes have not changed, even though they may be expressed with more subtlety than in previous eras.
I haven't read any books by Wilbur Smith for some years, but this book reminded me a little of those adventurous stories, as well as the books written years ago by Hammond Innes. What is different here, though, are the sympathetic observations of the characters and the country. Botswana is shown in a gentler, more romantic light in Alexander McCall Smith's successful NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY series. In A CARRION DEATH, the same country is certainly recognisable, but is seen with a slightly more masculine, hard-edged perspective.
A CARRION DEATH is a collaboration between two authors who are very knowledgeable on a whole range of topics, and who pack in a mass of fascinating detail about various professions and skills as part of the exciting plot. I had great fun reading this book; even though the last hundred pages or so were too drawn-out, I think that Detective Kubu is set for many great things.
I didn't think I was going to like this book before I started it - I imagined a cross between a "cosy" mystery and a Peter Mayle-style expat's view of France - neither being quite my cup of tea. I couldn't have been more wrong. BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE may be a gentle book, but at the same time it does not pull its punches. It is well written, introducing a charming, likeable main character; a satisfying detective story; and conveying a strong love and understanding of the Dordogne region of France - its traditions, people, history and the forces that threaten them - by an author who, although English, has lived in the region part-time for some years and clearly identifies strongly with it.
As the book opens, we are introduced to Bruno, the chief and, in fact, only policeman in the small town of St Denis. He owes his position to the mayor, with whose son Bruno served in the army in Bosnia. The mayor's son is an academic and lives away from the region where he grew up, but Bruno, an orphan, is treated by the mayor as a kind of surrogate son. The affection between the two men is one of the many understated but rewarding aspects of this book.
Before getting stuck into the crime plot, Martin Walker introduces us in a leisurely style to the main concerns of the local people: to defeat the bureaucrats from Brussels in order to carry on their age-old traditions of making, and selling, duck pate, local vintages of various alcoholic types, cheeses and other produce now contrary to EU diktats. We are introduced to the market, the tennis and rugby clubs, the school and other local high spots such as a camp site, a cave with ancient paintings, and a cast of characters including a mad Englishwoman (who isn't mad), a baron and a doctor. Although portrayed with affection, we don't delve too far into sentiment: some of the locals are not above scraping the date stamps off supermarket eggs, smearing them with straw and chicken shit, and selling them individually at exorbitant rates to the tourists.
Bruno's job is to know every nuance of town life, stopping the farmers and traders from resorting to too many illegal activities while outsmarting the regulators and gendarmes in a range of smile-inducing ways. Because he is involved in many aspects of town life (for example he coaches all the young children in tennis, so knows everyone's character), this act isn't too challenging for Bruno, who carries off his daily tasks with aplomb while cultivating his garden and cooking mouth-watering meals.
The a brutal crime occurs, very different from the usual level of rescuing cats or redirecting traffic on market day: an old man is killed and a swastika carved on his torso. The victim is part of the local North African Arab community: his son is the maths teacher at the school and his grandson a local rugby star, himself about to become a father. The immediate assumption is that the crime is racially motivated, so reinforcements are called in from the regional crime squad and, less happily, from the Paris judiciary. Two suspects are rapidly identified, but although they are clearly guilty of some crimes, the police cannot tie them to the murder. In the meantime, temperatures between the Arab and French communities are rising, so Bruno and the mayor have their work cut out to make everyone understand that they are all French and that little is gained, and much lost, by mob rule.
The spectre of the war hangs over this book, set in a part of France once ruled by the Vichy government and where memories are long. In addition, there are newer political factions intent on gaining their own ends. Bruno, however, is only interested in learning the truth, not in convenient solutions. Although he is patronised by some of the more "modern" police and judiciary officially in charge of the investigation, Bruno's determination to solve the crime by finding evidence, combined with his strong local knowledge and interests, eventually pays off - though his deductive feat presents him with a moral dilemma that he brushes aside rather too lightly, in my opinion.
With his successful solution to the case, would Bruno, who lives a simple, even at times Spartan life, trade it in for ambition as well as love? He says "I think there are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who do their work for eight hours a day and they don't enjoy it and don't respect themselves very much for what they do. And then there are those who don't see much difference between their work and the rest of their lives because the two fit happily together. What they do to earn their living doesn't seem like drudgery to them. Around here there are a lot of people like that."
Although in many respects this is a "feel-good" book, providing an idyllic and partisan depiction of the French country way of life which exists still despite the efforts of the relentless modern world to homogenize it, the author is not afraid to address difficult issues head-on, personal and political. The stories of the French resistance in the Nazi regime and the fate of the French North Africans during the DeGaulle years are sombre, told with authority and style, as one might expect from an author who has written distinguished histories (as well as a previous novel about the famous prehistoric art in the caves of the region) and covered many international conflicts during his journalistic career. I am glad that BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE is the first in a series, as I look forward to reading more about this charmingly self-deprecating man, his past (plenty of angles are hinted at) and his neighbours - not forgetting, of course, his next criminal case.
