A Murder in Springtime by Martin Walker

A MURDER IN SPRINGTIME by Martin Walker is the latest (19th) in the Inspector Bruno mystery series set in rural, southwestern France. Walker excels at conveying the village life, particularly as Bruno is working on a project to revitalize the market at St. Denis. He also once again shares numerous details of meal preparation and ingredients, including a huge lamb roast to celebrate Easter. The mystery, involving the death of a relatively unknown outsider, is almost secondary to the sense of community and celebration through food. Due to a possible conflict in the case for Bruno, a young inspector (Fabien) associated with the Police Judiciaire arrives to lead the investigation and the two become fast friends. As always, I look forward to more in this rather undemanding, but thoroughly entertaining, series. A MURDER IN SPRINGTIME received a starred review from Booklist (“If, by some magic, you could live within any book (or series), you would do well to choose Martin Walker’s Bruno, Chief of Police mysteries...”).