An Enemy in the Village

 

An Enemy in the Village is the 18th Chief Bruno novel by Martin Walker. Released 1st July 2025 by Knopf, it's 305 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

These books are such enjoyable reading breaks. They're like inviting and civilized visits with an old and dear friend. They're full of quirky characters who are intelligent and cultured (and the occasional villain). There's so much to learn about the food and French cuisine, wines, history, and the countryside. But, at the end of the day, they're murder mysteries and the untangling of the mysteries are well written and engaging.

There is some difficult content included here, however gently written; pregnancy loss, partner betrayal, infidelity, suicide (and ideation) as well as more mundane grievous bodily harm, physical and sexual assault, and Machiavellian politics.

There's a lot of content devoted to Bruno's basset hound's "love life", and some to his own love life, and his horse Hector, and while it might've been a little over the top, a fair bit of why I choose to spend time on this series is the culinary and cultural asides. I loved it. This is a book for slowing down and savoring. 

The denouement and resolution are mostly satisfying and Bruno once again ties up the loose threads (except possibly of his love life), and he and Balzac and Hector can once again concentrate on the important non-violent aspects of life, love, and wine. 

This was an interesting, if melancholy, read. Long live Bruno!

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.