Martin Walker

Martin Walker (born 1947) is a Scottish former journalist, historian, and the author of the popular Bruno series of detective novels. After working at The Guardian from 1971 to 1999, Walker joined United Press International (UPI) in 2000 as an international correspondent in Washington, D.C., and is now editor-in-chief emeritus of UPI. He was a member of A.T. Kearney's Global Business Policy Council.

Life

Martin Walker was educated at Harrow County School for Boys and Balliol College, Oxford. He lives in the Périgord/Dordogne in Southern France with his wife with whom he has two daughters.

Walker was on the staff of The Guardian from around 1971, working in a variety of positions, including bureau chief in Moscow and the United States, European editor, and assistant editor. One of the unsuccessful candidates for the editorship of The Guardian in 1995, when Alan Rusbridger was appointed in succession to Peter Preston, Walker resigned in 1999 after 28 years with the newspaper.

Walker joined United Press International (UPI) in 2000. While at UPI he was also an international correspondent. He is now editor-in-chief emeritus of UPI. He also holds a variety of other positions, including senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.; senior fellow of the World Policy Institute at The New School in New York; member of the board of directors of the Global Panel Foundation (Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague, Sydney and Toronto). He is also a contributing editor of the Los Angeles Timess Opinion section and of Europe magazine. Walker also is a regular commentator on CNN, Inside Washington and NPR. Waking Giant: Gorbachev and Perestroika, The Cold War: A History, Clinton: The President They Deserve and America Reborn.

He's also written the historical thriller, The Caves of Perigord (2002).

Bruno, Chief of Police Walker is the author of the Bruno detective series set in the Périgord region of France, where he has a home. The novels depict an unconventional village policeman, Benoît "Bruno" Courrèges, a passionate cook and former soldier who was wounded on a peacekeeping mission in the Balkans, who never carries his official gun, and who has "long since lost the key to his handcuffs".

Novels

Bruno, Chief of Police. Quercus, London 2008, The Dark Vineyard. Quercus, London 2009, Black Diamond. Quercus, London 2010, The Crowded Grave. Quercus, London 2011, The Devil's Cave. Quercus, London 2012, The Resistance Man. Quercus, London 2013, Children of War. Quercus, London 2014, (US title: The Children Return) The Dying Season. Quercus, London 2015, (US title: The Patriarch) Fatal Pursuit. Quercus, London 2016, The Templars' Last Secret. Quercus, London 2017, A Taste for Vengeance Knopf, New York 2018, The Body in the Castle Well. Knopf, New York 2019, The Shooting at Chateau Rock. Knopf, New York 2020, The Coldest Case. Knopf, New York 2021, To Kill a Troubadour. Knopf, New York 2022, A Chateau Under Siege. Knopf, New York 2023, A Grave in the Woods. Quercus, London 2024, An Enemy in the Village. Quercus, London 2025,

Short stories "Bruno and the Carol Singers". Vintage, New York 2012, "A Market Tale". Vintage, New York 2014, "The Chocolate War". Vintage, New York 2018, "A Birthday Lunch". Knopf, New York 2019, "Oystercatcher". Vintage, New York 2020, Bruno's Challenge and Other Stories of the French Countryside. Knopf, New York 2022, (short stories collection)

Prizes

2021: Prix Charbonnier