Clearly this is another familiar, comforting Bruno-Chief-of-Police novel by Martin Walker. What’s not so clear is what the title, An Enemy in the Village, refers to. My initial guess, based on previous novels in the Bruno series, was that the “enemy” referred to some anti-French terrorist who managed to infiltrate St. Denis. Later I thought that it must be some leftist whom the local right-wingers called an “enemy of the people,” given today’s politics.

I’m not going to tell you which, if either, is the correct interpretation, as it would constitute a spoiler. Just read the book yourself. What I will tell you is that you don’t have to have read the previous 17 novels in the series, and that you will enjoy this one regardless. As usual, you get an atmospheric mystery, French gastronomy and wine, and a police chief who is deeply involved in his village and the surrounding district. Oh — and a basset hound who charms everybody. You also get a peek into the complex multi-level French policing system. As is typical in Walker’s stories, almost all the characters are interesting and sympathetic, but you will be shocked — shocked, I say — to hear that there is corruption in one of those levels of law enforcement.

Some amateur reviewers on Amazon objected to the relatively thin plot, the mentions of Bruno’s leftish views on immigration and climate change, and the presence of too many women in the book. Well, as they say in France, your mileage may vary.

Categories: Books