The Crowded Grave

Bruno Courreges is a man of many parts. The police chief of a small town in the south of France, he is a benign keeper of the peace who appreciates the good things in life. But Bruno’s rural idyll is disrupted when an archaeological dig uncovers a murder victim, animal activists take their wrath out on farmers who are fattening up their geese for foie gras and a political summit at a local chateau is threatened by Basque separatists. The various threads intermesh at a leisurely pace, leaving Bruno plenty of time to prepare succulent regional dishes and to dispense the finest of wines. Here is a policeman whose lot is certainly a happy one.