Author(s): Martin Walker

Fiction

Bruno, Chief of Police is back with a new mystery: a corpse at the bottom of a well that will lead him from the Renaissance to the French Resistance--and beyond.

When a young American turns up dead in the courtyard of an ancient castle in Bruno's jurisdiction, her death is assumed to be an accident. But her doctor persuades the Chief of Police that things may not be so simple. So begins an investigation that leads Bruno to Monsieur de Bourdeille, the scholar with whom the girl had been studying--and a renowned art historian who became extraordinarily wealthy through the sale of paintings that may have been falsely attributed. In his younger days, Bourdeille had aided the Resistance and been arrested by a Vichy policeman, someone whose own life story becomes entangled in the case. Also in the mix is a young falconer who works at the Château des Milandes, the former home of fabled jazz singer Josephine Baker. In the end, of course, Bruno will tie all the loose threads together and see that justice is served--along with a generous helping of his signature Périgordian cuisine.