The Body in the Castle Well

Book excerpt: Another installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno: When a young American woman turns up dead in the courtyard of an ancient castle, Bruno Courrèges initially assumes that she died of an overdose. But her doctor soon persuades him that things may not be so simple, setting Bruno on an investigation that will lead him from the Renaissance to the French Resistance and beyond. Claudia Muller had been studying with Monsieur de Bourdeille, a renowned art historian who became extraordinarily wealthy through the sale of paintings that may have been falsely attributed—or so Claudia suggested shortly before her death. In his younger days, Bourdeille had aided the Resistance and been arrested by a Vichy police officer whose own life story also becomes inexorably entangled with the case. Also in the mix is a young falconer who works at the Château des Milandes, the former home of fabled jazz singer Josephine Baker. Once again, it’s up to Bruno to make sure that justice is served—along with a generous helping of his signature Périgordian cuisine, of course.