A Taste for Vengeance

A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel

By: Martin Walker

Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's Summary

A missing woman, a shocking pregnancy, a dash of international intrigue, and a bottle or two of good Bergerac: It's another case for Bruno, Chief of Police.

When a British tourist fails to turn up for a luxurious cooking vacation in Bruno's usually idyllic Dordogne village of St. Denis, the worried hostess is quick to call on Bruno for help. Monica Felder is nowhere to be found, and her husband, a retired British major, is unreachable. And not long after Bruno discovers that Monica was traveling with a mysterious Irishman (her lover?), the two turn up dead. The Irishman's background in intelligence and his connection to Monica's husband only raise more questions for Bruno. Was she running away? How much does her husband really know? What's the real story behind a scandal buried in the threesome's military past? 

Meanwhile, the star of the girls' rugby team, a favorite of Bruno's, is pregnant, putting at risk her chances of being named to the French national squad. Bruno's search for the truth in both cases leads him to places he hadn't intended to go - but, as ever, he and his friends take time to savor the natural delights of the Dordogne. Sante!

©2018 Walker and Watson, Ltd. (P)2018 Recorded Books

Best of the best

I've loved the whole Bruno series, which blends French atmosphere, food and European history with romance and the excitement of solving a crime. In this latest, Martin Walker brings old friends together again, who are made all the more familiar by Robert Ian MacKenzie's impeccable performance, and the pace never lags. Bookpage made this book a Top Pick in their June issue, and I hope more readers will give the Bruno, Chief of Police series a try.

That’s an American accent?

Mackenzie’s performance is excellent except that his American accents are painful to hear because it sounds as if he is struggling mightily to get them out! Best to stick with Brutish accents for the Americans. We can handle it.

Bruno Lite

One of the things I love best about this series is the weaving of contemporary French life with the history of Bruno's region. This story's weak reach to Ireland broke that bond. The ironic humorous acceptance of totally illogical French/EU laws and regulations and red tape were also missing. All in all, this was a much more simplistic, less sophisticated story than I have come to expect. Here's hoping the next one returns to the higher standards.

Bruno Triumphs Once Again

This review is for all the other fans of Martin Walker’s Bruno novels:
This volume is as good as every one of its predecessors. What else needs to be said? Now, please write another one.

Another fine Bruno

An interesting development of the character, formalizing his evolution as a town bobby of sorts to a regional police chief dealing with policies and operations on a grander level. I think it worked ok in this book but we’ll see about how it changes the series in later books.

Ian Mackenzie is Bruno!

Strange that a British accent could so persuasively convey Bruno, but Mackenzie gets everyone (except the American) pitch perfect. This story wasn’t quite as strong as previous books but luckily Isabel is still around and Bruno and his friends are still fine company.

One of the best yet

Can’t wait for the next one. Wonderful characters. I adore Bruno and I want me a Balzac.

Bruno Just Gets Better and Better!

I love this series and really enjoy the narration, too. Bruno and his little French town get me every time! It’s too bad we get only one of these per year!

Great series!

Love the Bruno series! Great characters, especially Bruno, his love of animals (his Bassets, his horse Hector) fine food and the regional cuisine and wine of the Périgord, as well as the setting of the stories in the beautiful Dordogne region, the combination of history, both ancient and modern, including WW2 and the résistance, modern policing and intelligence, mouth watering cuisine and recipes, and wine! I traveled in this area of France many years ago and this series has made we want to go back and look more deeply.

The narrator is great. However, my only criticism is that while, for the most part, I do love the narration, please, please stop trying to do American accents! They are really quite atrocious and as an American, it’s like listening to fingernails on a chalk board. You don’t give Bruno and the French characters French accents, so why do you feel the need to try to do American accents?

Complex

Exciting , could not figure out how it would end. Felt sorry for the soccer player