Black Diamond

The third installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. Something dangerous is afoot in St. Denis. In the space of a few weeks, the normally sleepy village sees attacks on Vietnamese vendors, arson at a local Asian restaurant, subpar truffles from China smuggled into outgoing shipments at a nearby market--all of it threatening the Dordogne's truffle trade, worth millions of dollars each year, and all of it spelling trouble for Beno t "Bruno" Courr ges, master chef, devoted oenophile, and, most important, beloved chief of police. When one of his hunting partners, a noted truffle expert, is murdered, Bruno's investigation into the murky events unfolding around St. Denis becomes infinitely more complicated. His friend wasn't just a connoisseur of French delicacies, he was a former high-profile intelligence agent--and someone wanted him dead. As the strange crimes continue, Bruno's detective work takes him from sunlit markets to dim caf s, from luxurious feasts to tense negotiations--from all of the paradisial pleasures of the region to its shadowy underworld--and reunites him with a lost love, an ambitious policewoman also assigned to the case. Filled with an abundance of food and wine (including, bien s r, many, many truffles) and a soup on of romance, Black Diamond is a deliciously entertaining concoction that delivers all the complexity and delights of the Dordogne itself. A charming French village, great food, eccentric characters and a mystery to nudge things along...Savory indeed. --The Seattle Times