This, the second Bruno the Police Chief novel, is set like all his novels in Southern France. And in this case, truffles are the black diamonds in Bruno's small town of St. Denis, their main livelihood along with wine. As a result, the residents are skeptical of strangers, especially those who promise tourist developments and jobs and have lots of money, even if they were once from St. Denis. As the novel begins, the local saw mill is closing down, supposedly because it refused to make changes that would satisfy the Green party. The owner has moved the mill to another town, received a tax break, and many think this was his plan all along. Interestingly, leading the group that wanted the saw mill closed is the saw miller owner's son, a Green enthusiast, thus we have a father/son feud.
Bruno, the congenial chief of police, with his basset hound Gigi, uncovers a truffle scam, orchestrated by the mill owner's son, substituting inferior Chinese truffles for the real thing. It takes time for Bruno to unravel the scam and also his attention is focused on a local Vietnamese family that is being harassed by the influx of Chinese who are attempting to take control of the Asian population. Bruno knows the family well, and eventually with the help of his friend J. J., irons out the feud between clans. His love interest in early novels, Isabelle, has been transferred to Paris though she seems to return at least once or twice in each novel, complicating Bruno's burgeoning relationship with Pamela, a British widow and ex patriot of whom he has much in common.
So juggling his relationships and solving the truffle scam as well as the Vietnamese gang problems takes up much of his time which otherwise, like Inspector Maigret, in George Simenon's many novels, is taken up with eating, making meals, and drinking wine, one of the many reasons Bruno refuses to follow Isabelle to Paris: he loves the area of St. Denis. I don't blame him; it sounds delightful. The joy of these novels is Bruno, of course, his close relationships with everyone, from the shop keepers, to the farmers, to the major and Baron. All seem to get along, with only occasional squabbles. Trouble occurs always when something or someone from the outside is introduced. In this case, it's the return of the son to the area who causes the trouble. A fun set of novels.
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