The General again ropes Bruno into the world of spies, including Dular, a Russian who can pass for Alaskan (grin), with the requisite beautiful women in peril (all of whom fall in love with Bruno, of course) and a shoot-em-up at the end. Balzac is okay, thank goodness.

The description of the St. Denis Saturday market will have you packing your bags for Dordogne, and Walker has some interesting things to say about Putin and Russia.

…”A new Ivan the Terrible?” Dular asked, chuckling at the thought. “…look at the alternatives. Tell me honestly, who would you like to see in the Kremlin instead? Your choice is Putinism without Putin or some ghastly gang of oligarchs with a Yeltsin-like figurehead in charge…The reality is that Russia dreads the future…What do we live on? We don’t have a real modern economy, we just export oil and gas. So do we continue to sell it and watch the Siberian permafrost melt and hundreds of millions of sun-broiled Asians trek north into Russia to find safety? Or does Russia nobly stop living on oil and gas, which means we then just as nobly starve? Do you have any other realistic options open for us?”

Good questions, and Bruno’s answer is to serve up what sounds like a delicious spaghetti à la Bruno. Seemed like the most sensible response to me.

Book Review Monday Chatter A Chateau Under Siege Bruno Chief of Police Martin Walker