Martin Walker books in order

A British officer delivers a mysterious package to a young American woman working in a London auction house.

Inside it is a 17,000-year-old fragment of a cave painting passed on by the father, a former veteran of the Second World War.

The fragment happens to hold the answers to the existence of a mysterious cave that could very well be crucial in the history of art and human creation; perhaps more crucial than the world-famous one at Lascaux.

Three gripping tales arise when the young American woman, the British officer, and an art historian from the French government journey to the ancient province of Périgord to unearth the true origin of the painting.

Benoît Courrèges, fondly knows as Bruno, is a policeman in a tiny village in the South of France. Despite being a former soldier, he has a gun that he never wears and power to arrest that he never uses.

When an elderly North African who fought in the French army is however killed under mysterious circumstances, Bruno is forced to balance his beloved routines that involve living in his restored shepherd’s cottage, shopping at the local market, drinking wine, wandering the countryside—given the delicate political nature of the investigation.

But as Bruno digs into the victim’s buried past, his suspicions lean towards far a more complicated motive.

The peaceful town in the South of France where Benoit “Bruno” Courreges is the only policeman is suddenly besieged when a bevy of winemakers descend on it, competing for its land and triggering resentment among the villagers.

Two young men, Max and Fernando, are at the heart of it. Max is an environmentalist who aspires to make organic wine while Fernando is the heir to an American wine fortune.

The two struggle to win over the affections of Jacqueline, a seductive and newly arrived student of wine from Québéc.

When two suspicious killings occur, Bruno will discover that dark shadows from the past always find a way of resurfacing.

Something bad is simmering in St. Denis.

In a matter of a couple of weeks, Vietnamese vendors in the idyllic village have been attacked; fire has ravaged the local Asian restaurant; and substandard truffles from China have been smuggled into outgoing shipments at a nearby market.

These actions capture the attention of Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges, master chef and the area’s adored chief of police.

Matters then get further complicated when one of his hunting partners is brutally murdered.

His friend however wasn’t just a renowned truffle expert but rather a former high-profile intelligence agent.

And Bruno must find out who killed him and why.

Spring has arrived in the peaceful village of St. Denis.

For Chief of Police Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges, it’s time to enjoy the lamb stews, bottles of his favorite Pomerol wine, morning strolls with his hound, Gigi, and a new series of regional crimes and international capers.

Instead, Bruno however finds himself in dealing with a murder case after a local team of archaeologists discover a corpse with a watch on its wrist and a bullet in its head.

Bruno’s quest to solve the murder is further complicated all thanks to a nosy new magistrate, a string of attacks by animal rights activists on local foie gras producers, and an impending summit between France and Spain—not to mention the two smart and gorgeous women trying to win his heart.

Spring has arrived in St. Denis. The village choir is getting ready for the Easter concert and the wildflowers are blossoming.

Everything seems to be going well in the picturesque village, until the dead body of a woman is discovered floating in a boat among the lazy whorls of the local river.

From the demonic markings and black candles near the body, Bruno Courrèges—the town’s Chief of Police—suspects that an occult could be involved.

And as questions arise, more so about an unsettling real estate proposal in the area and the unexpected reemergence of an elderly countess, Bruno and his colleagues are drawn closer to a final showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac: a place known to the locals as the Devil’s Cave.

It's the final market day before Christmas and Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges is already whetting his appetite for the feast that awaits him.

The beloved law enforcer is however never off duty for long, as he is soon called into action after a prisoner on parole goes missing, with the man in question last seen heading for St Denis where his ex-wife and son live.

From the look of things, the goose, the oysters, his English girlfriend's Christmas pudding and his renowned mulled wine will just have to wait…

Summer has arrived in St. Denis.

For Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges, that just means it’s yet another season to solve more cases.

Bruno is consumed by three cased in particular: the first one involves incriminating evidence against a veteran of the French Resistance linking him to an infamous train robbery; the second one involves the burglary of a former British spymaster's estate; and the final one surrounds the killing of an antiques dealer whose lover so happens to be on the run.

As Bruno conducts more investigations, he discovers that the cases are actually entwined.

But to figure out how, he will have to use every bit of skill he possesses.

Benoit “Bruno” Courreges is the Chief of Police of a tiny village in the South of France.

Although his sleepy village of St. Denis has been called many things, a cradle of international intrigue is the last thing that they ever expected it to be called.

All this happened after an agent on a covert mission is found brutally killed just as a prodigal son is poised to return from a grim tour in the Middle East.

The small town is now on the verge of hosting a global tribunal, one that threatens to disrupt the usual cheer brought by the area’s annual wine festival.

Between the seventeenth-century town hall and the stone bridge over the river that snakes through town, the small village of St. Denis hosts its weekly market which is rife with local gossip just as much as it is with fresh produce and pâtés.

This summer, the latest talk of the town involves the blossoming relationship between Kati, a Swiss tourist, and Marcel, a famous stall owner.

Local Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges is thrilled by the news that Marcel, a young widower, is learning to love again.

Trouble however brews when Nadette, Marcel’s sister, intrudes into his love life.

When Nadette makes it known that nothing will stop her from interfering with Marcel’s life, Bruno will have to come in and fix things.

Bruno Courrèges can’t hide his excitement when he receives an invitation to the lush birthday celebration of Marco “the Patriarch” Desaix, his childhood hero and World War II flying veteran.

The beloved Chief of Police however finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation after the party ends with the death of Gilbert, one of Marco’s oldest friends.

Although it seems like an unfortunate accident, Bruno maintains his skepticism about the Desaix family.

He has so many unaswered questions about Victor, the Patriarch’s son; Madeleine, Victor’s alluring wife; and the Patriarch himself.

And the more he gets entwined with the Desaix family, the more he puts his own life at risk.

"Despite the numerous challenges life may offer, one can always make time for a good bottle and a home-cooked meal."

The summer has just begun and Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges finds himself the last-minute replacement navigator in a car rally race.

The event has drawn plenty of outsiders with financial might, enormous egos and, as per the case of one young Englishman, an interesting tale about a lost Bugatti Type 57C.

The luxury vehicle, which is worth millions of dollars and considered among the most beautiful cars ever made, went missing somewhere in France during the Second World War.

When the body of a local scholar is discovered, Bruno suspects unnatural causes.

Sounds like another mystery to be solved.

When the dead body of a woman is discovered at the bottom of a cliff near the sleepy town of St. Denis, Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges has a feeling that the killing had something to do with great ruin that stands above: a long-ago Knights Templar stronghold.

Working hand-in-hand with Amélie, a young newcomer to the Dordogne, Bruno finds out that the victim was an archaeologist searching for an important religious artifact.

Her connection with Islamic extremists, coupled with the return of Bruno’s former lover, however only further complicates the case that involves solving the centuries-old mystery.

But despite having his plate full, Bruno still finds the time to savor the wine, food, and majesty of the Périgord region.

Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges is called into action after a British tourist fails to show up for a lavish cooking vacation in the serene village of St. Denis.

Monika Felder is nowhere to be seen while her husband, an ex-British general, is unreachable.

No sooner does Bruno learn that Monika was in the company of an mysterious Irishman, with a background in intelligence, than the bodies of the two are discovered.

Was she trying to run away?

Elsewhere, the most important player in the girls’ rugby team is pregnant, which is a disaster because it ruins her chances of being named to the French national squad.

Despite the challenging nature of the two cases, Bruno stills finds time to enjoy the culinary delights of the region.

During the summer mornings, Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges strolls along the stalls of the weekly market in the idyllic village of St. Denis, observing as they are being loaded with various goods.

Trouble is however never too far away. A disagreement soon ensues when Léopold, Bruno’s old friend from Senegal, and his young nephew Cali, start selling cheaper African coffee and chocolate; something that angers Bruno’s old friend Fauquet.

Being a local taxpayer, an openly livid Fauquet protests against unfair competition. Leopold and Cali on the other hand champion for their freedom to do business fairly.

When the rivalry however intensifies, Bruno must come up with an amicable way of solving the dispute.

When the body of a young American woman is discovered in the courtyard of an ancient castle, her death is deemed as a tragic accident.

When doctors however suggest otherwise, Chief of Police Benoit “Bruno” Courreges launches an investigation that leads him to Monsieur de Bourdeille, the scholar with whom the victim had been studying.

Throw in the story of a Vichy policeman and a young falconer working at the Château des Milandes, and the case becomes further complicated.

As Bruno desperately struggles to deliver justice, he also finds the time to enjoy his signature Périgordian cuisine.

Whenever he isn’t solving crimes in his idyllic town of St. Denis, Police Chief Benoit “Bruno” Courreges can be found cooking and sharing his meals with local guests and close friends.

As such, Bruno prepares a surprise for Florence’s birthday.

But because everything in St. Denis is always a communal effort, the Chief of Police receives a lot of assistance from his small community.

While enjoying one of his morning runs with his dog Balzac, Bruno comes across an ancient hand axe in the ground—something that he decides would be the perfect gift.

From the look of things, it’s going to be the perfect day for Bruno and his guests to celebrate their collective history.

Called upon to assist in an investigation of oyster thieves at the Bay of Arcachon by the Commissaire Pleven of the Bordeaux police, beloved chief of police Bruno relishes an opportunity to momentarily reunite with the beautiful and ambitious Isabelle. Bruno is only a rural policeman, and he’s there for support and, if he’s being frank, skeptical of the whole mission. But when he and Isabelle witness strange activity out in the bay one evening--Bruno gets thrust into the center of action he had never bargained for.  

It’s summer in the Dordogne and the heirs of a modest sheep farmer learn that they have been disinherited. Their father’s estate has been sold to an insurance company in return for a policy that will place him in a five-star retirement home for the rest of his life. But the farmer dies before he can move in. Was it a natural death? Or was there foul play?

Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges is soon on the case, embarking on an investigation that will lead him to several shadowy insurance companies owned by a Russian oligarch with a Cypriot passport. 

The arrival of the oligarch’s daughter in the Périgord only further complicates one of Bruno’s toughest cases yet. It will take all of his resolve and quick thinking to untangle the truth in a mystery that will reach its deadly denouement at the château of an aging rock star. But in true Bruno fashion, at least lunchtime is never in danger.

After attending an exhibit on the facial reconstruction of ancient skulls, Bruno wonders if this technology might provide an invaluable clue to a thirty-year-old cold case. But learning the identity of the murder victim is only the beginning.

The investigation quickly turns thorny and leads Bruno to a reclusive vintner, Henri Bazaine, whose education at a vocational school in a formerly Communist region has raised some eyebrows. An inquiry into the defunct school turns up shadowy reports of possible connections and funding from the Stasi, the repressive police agency of the former East Germany. The scrutiny on Henri intensifies once Bruno discovers that he was declared dead thirty years ago and has been living under an assumed name ever since.

The strange case is further complicated as Parisian bureaucrats get involved, hinting that essential diplomatic relations might be at stake. And to make matters even worse, the Dordogne is suffering from an intense summer drought that is sparking fires across the region. But as always, Bruno will keep a cool head through it all--and, bien sûr, takes time to enjoy a sumptuous Périgordian meal!

After a prisoner breaks parole to see his son on Christmas, Bruno must track him down before he throws away his chance at eventual freedom. When a Senegalese man’s coffee sells superbly at the market, some café owners become incensed by the new competition and take matters into their own hands. As a Swiss tourist and a St. Denis native fall in love over the fruit-and-veggie stall, one of their family members takes drastic steps to break them up. A fledgling tour bus business is sabotaged, leading Bruno to take a closer look at a town love triangle. Called in to investigate a case of stolen oysters, our beloved policeman reunites with an old flame to catch the shellfish thieves.

In story after story, Bruno settles town disputes, mediates family quarrels, and tracks down lawbreakers in his adored village of St. Denis and its environs. Featured meals in the collection include a fatty Christmas goose, a savory nettle soup with crème fraîche, and a fluffy quiche Lorraine.

When a musician’s new song hits a political nerve, he finds himself in the crosshairs of Spanish nationalists’ ire, and it’s up to Bruno to track down the extremists who seem ready to take deadly measures.

Les Troubadours, a folk music group that Bruno has long supported, go viral with their new number, “Song for Catalonia,” when the Spanish government suddenly bans the song. The songwriter, Joel Martin, is a local enthusiast for the old Occitan language of Périgord and the medieval troubadours, and he sympathizes with the Catalan bid for independence.

The success of his song provokes outrage among extreme Spanish nationalists. Then, in a stolen car found on a Périgord back road, police discover a distinctive bullet for a state-of-the-art sniper's rifle that can kill at three kilometers, and they fear that Joel might be the intended target. 

The French and Spanish governments agree to mount a joint operation to stop the assailants, and Bruno is the local man on the spot who mobilizes his resources to track them down. While Bruno tries to keep the peace, his friend Florence reaches out for help. Her abusive ex-husband is about to be paroled from prison and she fears he will return to reclaim their children.

Will Bruno and Florence be able to prevent this unwanted visit? Despite the pressures, there is always time for Bruno to savor les plaisirs of the Dordogne around the table with friends.

When an actor in a local play is attacked during a performance, Bruno must learn whether it was an accident, a crime of passion, or an assassination attempt with implications far beyond the small French village.

The town of Sarlat is staging a reenactment of its liberation from the British in the Hundred Years War when the play’s French hero, Brice Kerquelin, is stabbed and feared fatally wounded. Is it an unfortunate prop malfunction—or something more sinister? 

The stricken man happens to be number two in the French intelligence service, in line for the top job. Bruno is tasked with the safety of the victim’s daughters, Claire and Nadia, as well as their father’s old Silicon Valley buddies, ostensibly in town for a reunion. 

One friend from Taiwan, a tycoon in chip fabrication, soon goes missing, and Bruno suspects there may be a link to the French government’s efforts to build a chip industry in Europe—something powerful forces in Russia and China are determined to scuttle. 

Wading through a tangle of rivalries and secrets, Bruno begins to parse fact from fiction—while also becoming embroiled in some romantic complications, and, of course, finding time to put together some splendid meals.

Martin Walker combines the recent academic analyses of the Soviet Union with keen journalistic pictures of what motivates everyone, from army generals to black market criminals.

The Waking Giant is a persuasive and easily comprehensible account of Gorbachev's desire for reform, and the immense potential the Soviet Union has to enhance the quality of life.

The Cold War was more of a global conflict than either of two major wars that rocked the 20th century. It wasn’t just a mere conflict between states or even empires, but rather, as Martin Walker puts it, "a total war between economic and social systems, an industrial test to destruction."

It’s easy to forget the numerous occasions in the late 1940s in which victory seemed all but guaranteed.

Towards the end of the 1940s, the concerns arouse as a result of the communist expansion into Eastern Europe and China; in the 1960s, by the possibility of defeat in Vietnam; and in the 1970s, the failure of détente and the West's economic meltdown.

This extensive historic narrative by award-winning political commentator Martin Walker, gives a detailed analysis of how the outcome of the Cold War was in doubt for more than four decades.

A poor boy from the marginalized old South won scholarships to some of the most prestigious universities, becoming a lawyer before ascending to the highest office in the land.

In this critical biography of Bill Clinton, Martin Walker uncovers a private life that seems lot like to the rhythmic cliché s of a country-and-western song:

Clinton never knew his father, as he died in a car accident before he was born.

His mother buried three husbands and married two more.

His stepfather physically abused his mother and fired gunshots into the bedroom walls.

One of his own brothers went to jail, while Clinton’s own marriage suffered greatly due to his own undoing.

In this book, journalist and historian Martin Walker defines twentieth-century America through the portraits of twenty-six American individuals whose achievements, innovations and ideals elevated the United States to a position of global supremacy.

These people were politicians and performers, thinkers and doers, capitalists and revolutionaries, and immigrants and the native born.

From Teddy Roosevelt's grand ambitions to Bill Clinton's global vision; Emma Goldman’s revolutionary ideals to William F. Buckley's extreme conservative nature; Albert Einstein's brilliant theories to Katharine Hepburn's charming delivery—the biographical essays that form this narrative reveal the different American archetypes, helping us to understand how strong individualism has always been the cornerstone of the American character.

Bruno Courrèges, the protagonist of Martin Walker’s internationally acclaimed mystery series, is not only the local police chief of the idyllic French village of St. Denis, but he also happens to be an impassioned amateur chef. In this delightful cookbook, the culinary and cultural inspiration behind Bruno’s fictional world comes to life. 

Featuring meals from the best-selling series, local recipes, charming anecdotes, and a history of the novels’ French setting, Bruno’s Cookbook invites readers into the bucolic life of Martin Walker and his wife, Julia Watson, and showcases their passion for the Périgord region’s rich cuisine.

Brimming with truffles and pâté, Bruno’s Cookbook features more than 90 recipes, including:

Red Onion Tarte Tatin (Tarte Tatin aux oignons rouges)

Gratin of Mussels with Parsley and Garlic (Gratin de moules)

Duck Breast Fillets with Honey and Mustard (Aiguillettes de canard au miel et à la moutarde)  

Confit Potato Fries, Sarlat- Style (Pommes de terre à la sarladaises)

Walnut Meringue Cake (Gâteau meringué aux noix)

Homemade Blackcurrant Liqueur (Crème de cassis)

Also included is a new Bruno short story, "The Question of Chabrol." A feast for the senses, Bruno’s Cookbook is a gorgeously illustrated edition that transports readers to France’s heartland.