- The Crowded Grave (2011), where truffles, local politics and Asian crime gangs are replaced by foie gras, animal rights, archaeological findings and Basque nationalists.
The recipe this time around:
Take a series of attacks on local foie gras producers by animal rights activists and add an archaeological team looking for Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal relics that unearths a corpse with a Swatch on its wrist and a bullet in the head. Incorporate a new vegetarian feminist magistrate out to make a name for herself, small town political conflict with the officious barely competent and possibly corrupt head of the local Gendarmerie and an approaching summit between France and Spain to announce an agreement to share intelligence about Basque terrorist activities.
While he’s already got plenty on his plate with the unidentified body and the foie gras issue, the summit is likely to attract unwanted attention and ex-military man Bruno is an obvious candidate for the local security detail, as is his his Paris-based former lover Isabelle, on the mend from gunshot wounds at the end of the previous episode. That sets up issues with Bruno's current flame Pamela, who in turn is forced to deal with her mother’s stroke and her ex-husband.
Complicating events further, two of the foreign students at the dig are obviously involved with the animal-rights vandalism, the professor in charge of the dig goes missing, as does a cache of dynamite at the local quarry. There are links to the SS, the Baader-Meinhof Gang and the Red Army Faction as various plot lines intertwine and unexpected connexions surface.
Possibly the best in the series to date, and reason to look forward to Bruno #5.
Investigate availability of:
The Devil’s Cave (2012)