A 30-yr old cold case, superb food, wonderful wine and...puppies! Bruno returns in a case lush with atmosphere and history which no fan of this series should miss.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
Bruno is a policeman in the village of St. Denis, France. JJ is a fellow officer who has had the skull of an unknown murder victim in his office for 30 years that has been unsolved. Bruno sees an exhibit at a museum where an artist reconstructs prehistoric skulls. He contacts the woman artist and she recommends an art student to come and reconstruct "Oscar". Virginie comes to village and starts her reconstruction of the skull. Both Bruno and JJ start asking questions about the skull and go back to visit the burial site. They come up with a good time frame of when the murder happened and some people who may have known him. The DNA sample that has been in the system kicks a match from a military death. They track down the family member who is related to the dead soldier and all kinds of secrets are revealed.
A very intriguing tale of France, murder and living in villages. I love the characters, especially Bruno with all his own cooking skills, growing a garden and his love and knowledge of local wines.
A great read and am so thankful for the opportunity to read this book and review it.
#TheColdestCase #MartinWalker #NetGalley

Another fabulous Bruno, Chief of Police book. Martin Walker skillfully weaves together the reopening of the 30 year old cold case that was the first case of Bruno’s detective friend J,J., Neolithic history, how facial reconstruction can be done from a skull, Cold War espionage, heat waves and devastating fires resulting from climate change, family relationships, and relationships between various branches of the police and security services in France. Finally, add in Bruno’s friends, castles, horses, mouthwatering descriptions of regional food and wine, and of course Balzac, Bruno’s beloved basset hound. While it sounds like it could be too much, it’s not. The pieces of the story flow together to create a wonderful story that I would put down only to grab my iPad so I could look at photos of the medieval fortress of Castelnaud,, the castle of Milandes, and the villages mentioned throughout the book.
Don’t cheat yourself by reading this as a stand-alone, the series is best enjoyed from the beginning as characters and relationships grow and change. This, like the previous books, is a great mystery, and a wonderful guide to the region it’s set in.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased view.

It amazes me that Martin Walker has managed to make Bruno into another amazing person that has all the empathy for all the people of his part of France. He's been in the fire brigade, and has been to a museum with reconstructed heads making him want to help JJ with his head from 30 years ago, his dog, Blazac was a father to a batch of new puppies, we meet his cousin, Alain and his girlfriend, Rosalie, we also meet the woman who is responsible for making a copy of the head that JJ has, Virginie, and we meet the bad policeman who tried to rape Virginie, we also meet all Bruno's friends including Sabine (new), Yveline, Pamela, Fabiola, Gilles, Florence, Philippe, Jack, Jacqueline, and the baron. Aways Isabelle in the brew. Martin takes the cold case and we have many different avenues to attend. Pictures of the men were formed from pictures the Mayor had in old files which were stored away. People now have many stories to tell of how the people came to be and you'll learn about this if you read the book. You have many pleasant reads such as all the rides that Pamela and Bruno take, the dinners that Bruno makes, and his exploits in fire fighting. All this makes the book a 5 out of 5 in my mind.