An Enemy in the Village

ByMartin Walker

Release Date: 2025-07-01
Genre: Cozy Mysteries

Score: 4

From 181 Ratings

Description

A real estate agent’s death 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.

“Rich in atmosphere and personality. . . It’s impossible to read a Bruno novel without getting hungry and thirsty.” —The New York Times

When Bruno stumbles upon a motionless figure in a car parked at a scenic overpass on the ridge of the Vézère valley, he’s ready to investigate. Inside, he finds a suicide note and the dead body of Monique, a successful businesswoman who rented châteaus to wealthy expats. It seems like an open-and-shut case.

But Bruno can’t shake the suspicion 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 Bruno faces pressure to resign from 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 Laura—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 something even worse.

Reviews

All Food and Wine, no Mystery!
2
By Boat Guy 2
I have loved this series with Bruno, the chief of police at the small fictional town of St. Denis in the Perigord region of France. But this installment was very disappointing. In previous books, the descriptions of the food and wine, exercising the horses on their morning and evening rides, and the friends and personalities that inhabit the local town were pleasant asides to the main arc of the story that centered on some mystery to be solved. In this book, Walker continues with the food, wine, horse rides, dogs, and even a bit or romance, but forgot about the mystery! At least half the book seems to be a description of some meal or wine, with a very weak story not doing a very good job of holding the rest of it together. Walker seems to have forgotten that his readers are looking for a mystery, and let the food take over.
Pleasing, but …
3
By RZelnio
I’ve read every one of Walker’s Bruno books and more than loved every one. This one is also enjoyable but I must say in all honesty that it is my least favorite installment. I’ve always described the Bruno books as equal parts mystery, cuisine, and culture. In this case, the mystery is less than an equal partner. In his other books, there are always pleasant details about Bruno’s cooking, equestrian pursuits, and his personal and professional lives. This installment is burdened by more than the usual details, I might even say excessively so, which seems to be a trend among most of the authors I follow. Let me close by encouraging you to read this book, which despite my critique, is still enjoyable. I still await any future additions to the Bruno series.