The Coldest Case (Bruno, Chief of Police)

Product Information

I learnt quite a lot from this story too. In particular, Walker touches the history of the Cold War, the Rosenholz Dossier, the master list of all Stasi Intelligence agents, espionage and politics. The Coldest Case in Laramie: put aside half a day to binge Serial's new true crime podcast". Irish Independent. February 24, 2023. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023 . Retrieved June 3, 2023.

Over and over again, sources tell Barker with absolute certainty that they did or said something that contemporaneous evidence indicates never occurred. Politics aside, this is another great book by Martin Walker. I always wait for a new “Bruno” novel. It’s like visiting old friends, with a murder mixed in. St. Denis sounds like such a beautiful place. I laughed out loud when he went into his garden and found a summer truffle in moments for breakfast... And when the emergency strikes he finds 2 (count them !) solutions that make a huge difference to the outcome as well as come up with a series of radical improvements to the disaster plan. This book gives a nice insight in the sharing of intelligence between the various countries, and the role the Stasi continues to play so many years after the Wall came down. And after all this time it finds its way into thé Dordogne as well. For thirty years, Bruno's boss, Chief of Detectives Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt J-J. A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis and never identified. For all these years, J-J has kept the skull as a reminder. He calls him 'Oscar'.

One imagines that the Trump indictment is going to revive an old podcast subgenre … or maybe a new generation of news podcasts? I throughly enjoyed "The Coldest Case" and think it is a solid entry among the Bruno books. The actual mystery itself isn't the most interesting but the broader story and subplots are quite strong. As usual for the series, there are multiple plot lines that become entangled/blow up to a higher level. While the same can not be said for every book in this series, the growing complexity of the case is handled well in this book. One small critique is that several times Henri is referred to as the actual wanted murderer for the crime of killing Max aka Oscar, when Henri should have been no more than a suspect. Initially, there was no clear motive, and later, even when there was a potential motive, there was no clear evidence to warrant making a definitive statement. Martin Walker’s strength lies in his ability to blend fiction with historical facts within his mystery. He unwinds elements of spying during the Cold War, tensions between rival espionage services and the lingering effects these activities have on current international relations. UNRIVALED AT INTERWEAVING THE PROFESSIONAL AND PRIVATE PURSUITS OF A THOROUGH LIKABLE COP' DAILY MAIL Miller, Laura (February 23, 2023). "The New Serial Podcast Is a Return to Their Roots. It's Going to Make Listeners Angry". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023 . Retrieved June 3, 2023.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of The Coldest Case, the fourteenth novel to feature Bruno Courreges, Chief of Police in the Dordogne town of Saint Denis. The latest iteration of this series opens with Bruno attending an exhibition of reconstructed Neanderthal skulls at a local museum.The exhibition reminds Bruno of a picture of a skull hanging in the office of his friend, Chief of Detectives J J Jalipeau.The picture is a reminder of JJ’s first case thirty years ago.The skull has never been identified and the unsolved case has lingered in JJ’s consciousness throughout his career.Bruno recruits a willing student connected to the exhibit and initiates a project to reconstruct the skull’s face.The description of the reconstruction process is fascinating and eventually leads to a replica of the victim’s face and provides hints to his life. These beginnings eventually uncover secrets buried long ago that involve the Stasi, international duplicity and a wine grower with an unrevealed past. I found the investigative side quite compulsive this time round. First there is the question of identifying the corpse and the ensuing ramifications, which are considerable and extremely well done. I was amazed at how the plot developed from so little initially and how it drew in some old friends. I was hanging on every turn and wasn’t disappointed by the wonderful ending, which is neat, clever and very fitting. I loved it.Bruno is a great character, kind, smart and dutiful. His duty to his community takes centre stage for part of the novel and it’s a wild ride with some ingenious solutions. It also raises some serious points. Another excellent tale of murder and mayhem and the beauty of life in this part of the world . I still enjoy the stories mr Walker tells and it also tells every time something about the real life and politics in France and Europe.