Martin Walker

To Kill a Troubadour Martin Walker

When a musician's new song hits a political nerve, he finds himself in the crosshairs of Spanish nationalists' ire, and it's up to Bruno to track down an extremist who seems ready to take deadly measures.

Les Troubadours, a folk music group that Bruno has long supported, go viral with their new number, "Song for Catalonia," when the Spanish government suddenly bans it. The songwriter, Joel Martin, is a local enthusiast for the old Occitan language of Périgord and the medieval troubadours, and he sympathizes with the Catalan bid for independence. The success of his song provokes outrage among extreme Spanish nationalists. Then a stolen car on a Périgord back road collides with a deer. The driver and passengers disappear but leave behind a distinctive bullet for a state-of-the art sniper's rifle that can kill at two kilometers. And police fear that Joel might be the intended target. The French and Spanish governments agree to mount a joint operation to stop assailants, and Bruno is the local man on the spot who mobilizes his hunting club friends to track them down. While Bruno tries to keep the peace, his friend Florence reaches out for help. Her abusive ex-husband is about to be paroled from jail and she fears he will return to reclaim their children. Will they be able to thwart this unwanted visit? Despite the pressures, there is always time for Bruno to savor les plaisirs of the Dordogne around the table with friends.