To Kill a Troubadour

March 1, 2022

From the multi-award-winning Andrews, past master of laugh-out-loud avian titling, Round Up the Usual Peacocks puts Meg Langslow on the trail of three separate cold cases when a member of her techie nephew's true-crime podcast team has an unfortunate accident that could have been attempted murder (40,000-copy first printing). In the New York Times best-selling Childs's A Dark and Stormy Tea, tea maven Theodosia Browning is approaching St. Philips Graveyard one rain-wrought night when she witnesses the murder of a friend's daughter and immediately starts investigating--never mind the serial killer loose in Charleston. In the Edgar Award-winning Krueger's Fox Creek, Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux protects a stranger named Dolores Morriseau who had sought his guidance but now finds herself pursued by hunters, with Cork O'Connor hot on their trail; his wife, Meloux's great-niece, is with the endangered Dolores (150,000-copy first printing). Author of the "Hugo Marston" mystery series, English journalist-turned-Texas prosecutor Pryor launches a new series with Die Around Sundown, set in World War II Paris, where Det. Henri Lefort has just a few days to solve the murder of a German major at the Louvre Museum (40,000-copy first printing). In Bark to the Future, latest in Quinn's doggedly funny New York Times best-selling series, PI Bernie Little and his devoted canine, Chet, try to figure out what happened to the woman who reigned as prom queen of Bernie's high school class and now seems to have vanished (75,000-copy first printing). With Quarter to Midnight, the New York Times best-selling Rose takes us to New Orleans, where police officer-turned-private eye Molly Sutton is tasked with helping a steamy-hot young chef prove that his NOPD dad's death was not suicide. Former director of the Wollongong Writers Festival, Scrivenor delivers the booming-big debut Dirt Creek, in which D.S. Sarah Michaels investigates the disappearance of 12-year-old Esther as she walked home from her rural Australian school even as Esther's classmates offer their own insights (150,000-copy first printing). In Schaffhausen's Long Gone, Det. Annalisa Vega recoups from having turned in her ex-cop father for murder by investigating a detective's suspicious death, which leads her to a slick car salesman trying to charm her best friend (40,000-copy first printing). Walker's popular hero, Bruno, chief of police in the Dordogne village of St. Denis, faces Spanish nationalists with plans To Kill a Troubadour after release of "Song for Catalonia" by a local folk music group.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 30, 2022
An international incident propels Walker’s taut 15th novel featuring Bruno Courrèges, the chief of police of the small French town of St. Denis (after 2021’s The Coldest Case). A week before Périgord folk band Les Troubadours is scheduled to perform in St. Denis, their new hit, Song for Catalonia, is banned by the Spanish government for encouraging the Catalan region to continue pushing for independence from Spain. The situation escalates exponentially with the spread of fake news on Spanish social media linked to Russia’s campaign to stir up divisions in Europe. The musicians’ website and Twitter feeds are soon overflowing with hateful comments and even death threats. Bruno begins to suspect that the song’s composer may be a target for terrorists when the band performs in his town. Smoothly integrated into Bruno’s investigation is information on a multitude of subjects, from medieval musical instruments to Ukrainian history, plus easy-to-follow recipes such as the British classic Coronation Chicken and Bruno’s Gazpacho. Good food, fascinating history, and a crackerjack mystery: who could ask for more? Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Susanna Lea Agency.

Starred review from July 1, 2022
His ringtone plays the opening notes of the anthem of French Resistance fighters in WWII. His beat in the Dordogne-P�rigord region of southwestern France includes fine restaurants, cafes, chateaux, his own town's biweekly market, and the Lascaux Cave. He raises his own chickens, grows his own produce, and is as caring a cook as Robert B. Parker's Spenser. He's Bruno Courr�ges, Chief of Police, and this is his fifteenth outing. As usual, Walker concocts a satisfying dish featuring an intriguing lead character who moves through enviable settings and enjoys wonderful meals while tracking down criminals. This time, though, the crime hasn't happened yet, and Bruno must frantically try to prevent it. The target is the lead singer of a group called Les Troubadours, which is about to perform their hit song advocating independence for Catalonia, a song that has enraged extremist Spanish nationalists. Les Troubadours is set to perform at an outdoor concert in St. Denis, with Bruno the point man on the ground for the French and Spanish governments. Walker is brilliant at conveying the harrowing logistics involved in figuring out when, where, and how the extremists may strike. Suspense carries to the last in this extremely well-crafted mystery that can be enjoyed by both fans and readers who are new to the series.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
His ringtone plays the opening notes of the anthem of French Resistance fighters in WWII. His beat in the Dordogne-P�rigord region of southwestern France includes fine restaurants, cafes, chateaux, his own town's biweekly market, and the Lascaux Cave. He raises his own chickens, grows his own produce, and is as caring a cook as Robert B. Parker's Spenser. He's Bruno Courr�ges, Chief of Police, and this is his fifteenth outing. As usual, Walker concocts a satisfying dish featuring an intriguing lead character who moves through enviable settings and enjoys wonderful meals while tracking down criminals. This time, though, the crime hasn't happened yet, and Bruno must frantically try to prevent it. The target is the lead singer of a group called Les Troubadours, which is about to perform their hit song advocating independence for Catalonia, a song that has enraged extremist Spanish nationalists. Les Troubadours is set to perform at an outdoor concert in St. Denis, with Bruno the point man on the ground for the French and Spanish governments. Walker is brilliant at conveying the harrowing logistics involved in figuring out when, where, and how the extremists may strike. Suspense carries to the last in this extremely well-crafted mystery that can be enjoyed by both fans and readers who are new to the series.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.