Why am I passionate about this?
I went to Paris the first time when I was nineteen. I was sitting in a cheap restaurant when a man entered carrying a burlap sack filled with escargots, and put some on my plate (all very unsanitary) for me to taste. Delicious! I was in France in the 1970s when Robert Parker was discovering French wine. (We didn’t meet then, but did after my series was published many years later.) Subsequent stays in Paris and other areas of France (Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy) afforded me a food and wine sensibility that over decades has permeated my lifestyle, my friendships—and my writing.
Janet's book list on modern day France containing food and wine
Why did Janet love this book?
I bought the paperback in 2010, and as I return to it, see where I underlined phrases and lines, especially about food and wine. I was enamored of the bachelor Bruno, and the small village he was a part of. That title was followed by The Dark Vineyard the following year, and that was when I declared myself a fan of Martin’s entertaining series. Martin interlaces serious issues with humor, just enough romance, and marvelous descriptions of food and wine. He was kind enough to endorse my series, and also sent me a recipe for lamb shanks that I cook once a year. (Midway through the series Martin and his wife wrote a cookbook that won awards in Germany, but alas, has still not been translated into English.)
2 authors picked Bruno, Chief of Police as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
The first Dordogne Mystery starring Bruno, Chief of Police, France's favourite cop. EU inspectors are causing havoc in the little town of St Denis and local tempers are running high, but is it really cause for murder?
Market day in the ancient town of St Denis in south-west France. EU hygiene inspectors have been swooping on France's markets, while the locals hide contraband cheese in their houses and call the Brussels bureaucrats 'Gestapo'. Local police chief Bruno supports their resistance. Although, here in what was once Vichy France, words like 'Gestapo' and 'resistance' still carry a profound resonance.
When an…