The Templars' Last Secret by Martin Walker

The amazing Martin Walker, a journalist of vast experience, has worked all over the world. His list of writing and editing credits alone made my eyes pop, and he's also a revered historian and broadcaster.

Bruno, on the other hand, is an ordinary French cop. Though his early life situation did not offer him much in the way of opportunities, this kind and intelligent man has done much with the talent he's been given. A relaxed guy who enjoys life, Bruno befriends his neighbours and puts heart and soul into his work, which provides rich rewards in return. Readers are transported to the rural peace of the Perigord. There we get to experience the people, the wine, the food, and the world-famous UNESCO heritage site of Lascaux  with its amazing 17,000-year-old cave paintings.

The Chief of Police is surprised by the arrival of a Parisian bureaucrat sent to job-shadow him for research purposes. Initially, Bruno is resistant to having Amelie constantly at his side; he fears her presence will disrupt his well-oiled routine of getting information from his contacts. But he soon sees how her social media skills can be used for police work. Yet, much as he's impressed by what Amelie can discover on the internet, he still shares a smug glance with Horst the archaeologist when she finds herself stymied by a loss of connectivity at the cave.

Bruno is engagingly optimistic and philosophical. Shocked by the destruction of Aleppo and Homs, he finds it hard to believe anyone could "seek deliberately to eradicate the monuments and the history of their own people." Even so, he feels optimistically certain that the past can "never be wiped away with the arrogant sweep of a violent hand."

Like many fictional cops, Bruno has access to non-logical forms of thought and knowing. He views these "subterranean mental  stirrings" as "hunches, and sometimes as an idea coming from a part of his brain that was not entirely his--a part formed by curiosity, experience and intuition--that kept churning, calculating, and making hypotheses that would suddenly erupt as a breakthrough."

For a mystery, the pace of this book is fairly slow. The body appears early on, but the detective work takes time. As he works on his investigations, we accompany Bruno as he prepares for the wedding to two archaeologist friends, cooks a delicious meal, rides his horse, walks his dog, talks to all kinds of local characters, drinks several delicious coffees, and teaches tennis to at-risk kids.  

Supporting a contemporary plot based on middle-east tensions, we're treated to an impressive array of curious historical facts. Unfamiliar with all but the most basic French history, I was intrigued to learn that the last master of the Templars cursed Phillip IV and the pope before he was burned at the stake by the Pont Neuf in Paris in 1314. Nor did I know the Vikings had sacked Bordeaux and Bergerac. I was equally surprised to learn that the Templars, while involved with the Crusades, "negotiated an alliance with the Mongols."

And who who knew the British intelligence people, those inveterate nicknamers, referred to their diplomats who specialized in the Arab world as camels? Or that the French Winnie the Pooh is Winnie l'ourson? I learned of technological developments too, thanks to scenes where the archaeologists use ground-penetrating radar.

A secondary plot involves a therapist who claims, for reasons of her own, to be "retrieving" memories from children raised in a Catholic orphanage. In reality, she's just bullying them into agreeing with her faux  psychological finds. This finds a satisfactory resolution when the therapist is caught cheating on her taxes. The pace of this delightful armchair cosy picks up near the end, where a couple of romances resolve as well.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Fortunately, Walker has created a series featuring Bruno, Chief of Police.