A real estate agent’s suicide sends shockwaves through the idyllic town of St. Denis, leading Bruno, Chief of Police, to suspect that there’s more to this tragedy than meets the eye.

When Bruno receives a call reporting a motionless figure in a car parked outside a beauty salon, he arrives ready to investigate. What he finds is a suicide note and the dead body of Monique, a successful businesswoman who sold chateaus to wealthy ex-pats. It seems like an open and shut case. 

But Bruno can’t shake the feeling that something sinister lurks underneath this tidy narrative. After he delivers Monique’s final messages to those most important to her, malicious gossip about Bruno begins to spread through the village. One thing leads to another, and soon protesters are showing up outside the precinct, demanding that Bruno be taken off the job. Despite this disturbing turn of events, Bruno remains Bruno, never one to turn down a fine meal with good company in the French countryside. In the course of inquiry, he meets Jilly—and her dog, which happens to be the same breed as his beloved basset hound. As sparks fly and Bruno realizes just how much he has at stake, he races to find out what really happened to Monique, before he loses his badge, his new love—or worse.

MARTIN WALKER, after a long career of working in international journalism and for think tanks, now gardens, cooks, explores vineyards, writes, travels, and has never been busier. He divides his time between Washington, D.C., and the Dordogne.