Bruno is the Chief of Police in a small, quiet village in southwestern France, St. Denis.  He is also a decorated Army veteran, a sergeant wounded in Bosnia as he attempted to save his NATO troops and Bosnian civilians from the Serb genocide.  St. Denis is a quiet village where Bruno cultivate his garden, coaches tennis and rugby and generally keeps everything on an even keel.  That situation is upset when the Algerian Arab, Hamid, grandfather of Karim who keeps a general store in town, is found murdered, disemboweled and with a swastika cut into his chest.  The town is thrown into chaos as the National Front’s skinheads interrupt a peaceful march for unity.  An attractive policewoman, an ambitious Paris magistrate, a mayor who is like a father to Bruno and is well connected with Paris, and a bevy of colorful characters fill the pages of this superb first volume in the Bruno series.  Fast paced and interesting, I plan to revisit Bruno down the road and at least 12 more Bruno books await me.

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