An Enemy in the Village

Bruno, Chief of Police, Book 18

De: Martin Walker

Narrado por: Peter Noble

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.

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 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 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.

©2025 Martin Walker (P)2025 Recorded Books

Balzac

Loved the dogs story. Also Bruno is finally done with Isabelle. Their affair was tiring.

New narrator is not very good

Not much story, not very good narrator. Mediocre at best, a disappointment in this usually entertaining series.

A little bummed

I loooove this series, but this outing didnt do it for me. I don’t want to drop any spoilers but the mystery wasn’t remotely mysterious and there was a lot of drama with a disproportionately whomp-whomp pay off. Poor Bruno.

Felt like a box-check

Felt like Martin Walker was checking off the box of another novel.

Story was drab, and not that clever. The wrapping up of loose ends regarding the young officer by having two generals step down was anti-climactic at best.

The most challenging edge to this book was listening to a story in France narrated by a guy with what sounded like a British accent.

Martin should have had me beta-read this one first before publishing ;0)

Change of narrator jarring

I greatly enjoyed the story, but I was disappointed Robert Ian Mckenzie was not the narrator like for the 17 prior books. Not a bad narration, but the many differences pronunciations (like previously hearing "JJ" for 17 books and now hearing a shift to the still correct French pronunciation of "Zhee Zhee") was jarring. A preface would have been appreciated.

New reader, new girlfriend

Bruno is one of my very favorite mystery series. I've read most of them several times. Its always a shock to have a new voice when you are used to the characters sounding a certain way. Peter Noble did an okay job. I don't have specific issues with his voice although it is a bit rough. I did have to speed it up a bit to find the right pace. This story is not one of my favorites. While I think the issues brought up are real (and will continue to get worse), the plot was more annoying than compelling. And while I suppose there had to be an unhappy ending with Isabel, I thought it lame, and the new friend just too perfect to be believed. That being said, I still prefer these books to most others. Keep them coming.

Not the old Bruno, I love

This something new about the way Bruno was written is not something good. The narrators a jarring change and the French is just two in your face.

Excellent series

Don’t like this narrator as well. I can’t distinguish the different voices as well when he reads the book.

Another cozy murder with an old friend

As usual, great story with a wonderful cast of characters in a delightful setting. Would have been nice to have had a foreword about the new narrator, which was a bit of a surprise, however I think he turns in an admirable performance, with excellent pronunciation, I hope to hear from him again with the next Bruno adventure.

Disappointing. Sub par effort

Lugubrious plot and romance - Perfunctory homage to the Perigord life and just plain boring. Reader was so slow I had to speed up the play back.