A fire has started and Bruno attends the scene. Was it an accident or was it arson? Follow Bruno as he is on the case to solve the mystery of this fire.
Although this is the second book in this series, I feel it could be read as a stand-alone. Having read the first book, this second follows on very well with many of the characters appearing again. I liked how the mood remained the same, with the comfortable, cosy rural life of a countryside policeman. I liked the tourist on holiday feel of this book and how French culture and life was explained. Throughout this novel there was a lot of cheese eaten and umpteen bottles of wine opened. There was so much socialising it was a wonder if Bruno would actually get around to some police work!
I liked how the plot developed and enjoyed the politics involved. Character development was good and there was plenty of drama. Romance raised its head again but nothing too heavy. My overall impression is that this would make a good television series, relaxing to follow with sufficient depth of plot. A constant thought throughout this novel for both Bruno and the reader was “I’m not sure”. These doubts really questioned motive and opportunity.
I liked how Bruno’s dog Gigi was included and not just in name, for example when Martin writes…
Bruno understood his dog well enough to have accepted that a human never walks a basset hound. The dog and the human go for separate strolls, which always coincide at the beginning, sometimes at the end, and rarely in the middle, unless Bruno gave the special hunter’s whistle.
...I also liked the casual observations, for example…
Well groomed and wearing town shoes, they did not look to Bruno like troublemakers.
...Part of this story brought back surprising memories to me, something I had forgotten about, oh how engineering has progressed over the years when Martin writes…
It was a receipt from Lespinasse’s garage for melange, the oil and petrol mix that old bikes required.
...I remember motorbikes with Two Stroke engines, when you had to mix a small amount of Castrol TT two stroke oil with the petrol. It was simple but it worked, not environmentally friendly but the performance was hot!
I enjoyed reading The Dark Vineyard because aside from the basic mystery that Bruno helps to solve, there is tonnes of content to enjoy about the culture and life of St. Denis in rural France. This BIG picture makes for a GOOD 4 star read.
The Dark Vineyard was written in 2009 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.
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