In this latest mouthwatering mystery starring country policeman Bruno, 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 only clue to the woman's identity is that her dentistry looks American, but Bruno's inquiries at local hotels and gites yield no trace of a missing foreign woman.

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.

The Dordogne town of St Denis may be picturesque and sleepy, but it has more than its fair share of mysteries, as Bruno,chef de police, knows all too well. But when Bruno is invited to the 90th birthday of a powerful local patriarch - a war hero with high-level political connections in France, Russia and Israel - 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, chief of police, can't get a moment's peace. He's uncovered a cache of old bank notes and is also 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. But Bruno is on another track.

Springtime in St Denis. It's two weeks before Easter, and Satanism has reared its ugly head. A female body has been found on a boat, bearing the ghastly signs of a black magic ritual. The victim is unknown and nobody is coming forward. This is the last thing Bruno needs. The Chief of Police-come-culinary connoisseur has too much on his plate as it is, mediating both a domestic abuse case and a local development proposal that seems just too good to be true. Moreover, he has no one to share these stresses with. His dog, Gigi, is gone, as are his usual roster of ladies.

France’s Périgord region is the home of the black truffle and at five thousand euros a kilo, the exquisite ‘Black Diamond’ is a treasured local asset. When reports come in that this unique delicacy is being adulterated with a cheaper Chinese version, Captain Bruno Courrèges is asked to investigate the scam. But matters take a much darker turn when a horrific murder occurs, and Bruno has his work cut out to find the connection between present crimes and long-buried ones that are linked to France’s colonial past.

A missing art student. An international investigation. A secret that will shatter the village of St Denis. Bruno, chief of police, faces a dark reckoning with France's past in this gripping mystery. 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 in the archives of an eminent French art historian, a crippled Resistance war hero, at his art-filled chateau.

Just before dawn one late-summer morning, Captain Bruno Courrèges is roused from sleep by the wail of the town siren atop the Mairie, summoning the volunteer firemen of St Denis. Bruno, the only policeman in the small Périgord town, follows the fire engines towards the site of a large barn, now engulfed in flames, the surrounding fields ablaze. Everything points to arson. A Californian wine maker is planning to buy up half the valley to create a huge wine-producing operation.

When an old man is found viciously murdered, a swastika carved in his chest, the obvious conclusion is that this killing must be racist. Suspicion falls on the son of the local doctor, found in flagrant playing sex games surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia.

Martin Walkers Romane spielen im geschichtsträchtigen Périgord mit seinen herrlichen Landschaften und trutzigen Burgen. Von einer dieser Burgen, Commarque, brachen im Mittelalter die Tempelritter zu Kreuz­zügen nach Jerusalem auf. Tausend Jahre später nimmt das einstige Morgenland eine späte Revanche in der Person einer jungen Archäologin, die wild entschlossen scheint, bei den damaligen Eroberern einen sagenumwobenen geraubten Schatz sowie ein politisch höchst explosives altes Dokument zu­tage zu fördern.

Endlich Frühjahr in der Provence. In den malerischen Orten im Luberon bereiten sich die Restaurants auf die Touristenströme vor, da macht eine Schreckensmeldung die Runde: Fünf abgetrennte Finger wurden an Köche verschickt, die allesamt einer Gourmet-Bruderschaft angehören und barbarisch zubereitete Menüs für die Oberschicht kochen. Die örtlichen Tierschützer kämpfen seit Jahren gegen die Männer, doch morden sie auch für ihre Überzeugung? Dorfgendarm Pascal Chevrier muss in einem Fall ermitteln, der bis weit in die Anfänge der Gourmetküche zurückreicht.

Frühling in der Provence. Die Felder blühen. Und einer mordet... Der dritte Fall für Pierre Durand. Das Luberon-Tal überzieht ein Blütenmeer, die Destillerien haben Hochbetrieb. Doch inmitten des Idylls wird die Inhaberin einer Kosmetikfirma tot aufgefunden. Unfall? Mord?

FEAT DESC

Eigentlich hatte sich Rechtsmediziner Dr. Leon Ritter auf einen entspannten Job in der Sonne gefreut. Doch kaum im Örtchen Lavandou angekommen, liegt schon sein erster Fall auf dem Tisch. Ein Mädchenmörder geht in der Provence um und alle Spuren laufen scheinbar ins Leere. Leon Ritter, ein Mann mit großem Sinn für Ordnung und Details, versucht die Ermittelungen voranzutreiben. Doch die südfranzösischen Kollegen ermitteln anders. Als die Tochter seiner Kollegin Isabelle Morell entführt wird, wird es heiß in Lavandou, sehr heiß sogar. Und Ritter merkt zu spät, dass auch sein eigenes Urteilsvermögen getrübt ist.

Der fünfte Fall für Capitaine Roger Blanc. November in der Provence: Capitaine Roger Blanc verabredet sich mit seiner heimlichen Geliebten, der Untersuchungsrichterin Aveline Vialaron-Allègre, zu einem Wochenende in Arles. Die beiden haben das römische Amphitheater der Stadt als Treffpunkt ausgemacht. Dort wird Aveline zufällig Zeugin eines kaltblütigen Mordes. Ganz knapp entgeht sie selbst dem Tod - doch der unbekannte Täter raubt ihr eine Tasche mit wichtigen Unterlagen, die sie ihrem Ehemann, dem politisch mächtigen Staatssekretär, unbedingt in Paris präsentieren muss.