View source for To Kill a Troubadour (A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel) by Martin Walker

{{infobox1
|title=To Kill a Troubadour (A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel)
|author=Martin Walker
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime
|summary=It might be the fifteenth book in the series but it's still fresh and inventive.  It's great too on the food, wines and history of the Dordogne.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=352
|publisher=Quercus
|date=June 2022
|isbn=978-1529413632
|website=http://www.brunochiefofpolice.com/
|cover=152941363X
|aznuk=152941363X
|aznus=152941363X
}}
''Nobody knows what the truth is any more.''

Bruno Courrèges is the police chief for St Denis and much of the Vézère valley and works closely with Commissaire Jean-Jaques Jalipeau (known as 'JJ'), the head of detectives for the départment of the Dordogne.  They're not just policemen - they're both deeply committed to the well-being and prosperity of this most beautiful part of France.  The discovery of an old, stolen Peugeot, crashed and abandoned in a ditch wouldn't normally have worried them so much had it not been for the strange bullet, with Russian letters stamped on the base, which they found in the car.  Oh, and there was a golf ball too, which didn't belong to the owner of the car.  A golf bag would be a good place to hide a sniper's weapon.  Was there going to be an attempt to kill someone, or were the detectives being pushed in a certain direction?

This wasn't the main item on the news, though.  A song by a local group, Les Troubadours, had been banned by the Spanish authorities.  That might be difficult to enforce in Spain, but there was nothing to stop ''Song for Catalonia'' from being broadcast in France.  In fact, Les Troubadours were going to appear at the next open-air concert in St Denis.  Because of all the publicity, crowds of people are expected to attend, and security will be a nightmare - for Bruno.

One of Bruno's friends (she ''might'' even be something more but Bruno isn't sure about the wisdom of starting a relationship with a woman in St Denis) is having family problems.  Florence Pantowsky has been contacted by her ex-husband, who is about to be released from prison.  He wants to make amends for how he treated her and develop a relationship with their children, twins Daniel and Dora.  Florence wants none of it: Casimir was violent towards her and she's frightened for her own safety and the twins' lives.  Casimir would seem to have a right to see his children, so how can Bruno persuade Florence to stay in St Denis when what she really feels like doing is heading for Canada?

If you're looking for a good story with a healthy dose of escapism then you need to look no further.  Many of the characters will be familiar to regular readers of the series - I regularly think about them between books and wonder how they're getting on.  I also wonder how they can eat the gorgeous food and drink the beautiful wines - and not end up the size of a house.  I feel two dress sizes larger just from reading the books!  It is a good story though - bang up to date with world events and delivering a sense that you're party to a few things which others might not know about.  As always, it's a cracker of a story and I read it far too quickly.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

''To Kill a Troubadour'' would read perfectly well as a stand-alone but if you want all the background on what's been happening in St Denis, you could read the books in [[Martin Walker's Commissar Bruno Courreges Mysteries in Chronological Order|chronological order]].

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