Binge Reading Giveaway for January 2022

Before we get to the Top Ten–we’ve got a Giveaway draw for January–three E book copies every week of my Three Holiday Novellas Book Bundle–A mix of mystery and Christmas romance set in historic New York, Hawaii and California, Books #4 #6 and #8 in the Of Gold & Blood historic mystery series. Enter the draw on our website, the joys of binge reading.com and be in to one of three copies going to lucky readers every week in January. Offer closes January 31.

Be in the draw to win one of three E Book copies of Three Holiday Novellas - Offer closes January 31.

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Martin Walker's - Bruno The Perigord Police Chief

Introducing the Best of All Time - The top rating Ten Most Popular Episodes out of the first 200

Martin Walker’s Bruno, the French police chief at the heart of his best-selling Perigord mystery series, is everyone’s ideal cop – as well as the town’s most eligible bachelor and a talented host with an international award-winning cookbook in his name . . . .

But before he turned to fiction, Martin had a stellar career in journalism, haunting the world's corridors of power reporting from Moscow during Perestroika and President Bill Clinton's Washington for top newspapers.

He's hugely popular in Germany, where a German TV series about Bruno is in production and where he regularly pre pandemic - went on book tours. Here he is talking about his international audience:

Martin: Well, I've got this absolutely stupendously good German publisher Diogenes, and when they first decided that they would take on my novels, I was invited to dinner with the founder of the company, an old man called Daniel Keel. His son Phillip has now taken over, and Daniel at dinner said, well, Martin, we're going to be behind you, but you have to be behind us. And that means I'd like you to promise me this evening, you will do at least two weeks book tour every year in Germany. And I said, well, okay, but why is that so important?

He said, because in Germany, they don't just want to read, they want to see, they want to smell it and want to really feel what an author is like. And it turns out that in Germany, there is this huge tradition of author’s readings. And partly because they have fixed prices on all book sales, every small town in Germany has its own bookstore, and it acts like a kind of a cultural settlement.

Bruno the French policeman popular in Germany

It brings in authors on a regular basis for readings. And so this last tour I did in October, I actually did my 500th reading in German language countries, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and we've worked out something like over 40,000 people have actually attended these live events and that an extraordinary kind of loyalty base.

I rather enjoy it, partly because I believe we should all have fun. So sometimes I will sing and so on and try and make a bit of a show of it for them. I mean, whenever there's a song taking place in the book, I will sing the song.

Jenny: I asked Martin if he was comfortable in the German language.

My German is a lot better than it was. I always start off giving a talk in German and then there’ll always be a German actor to do the German bits. I will read in English. Then we'll do Q and A in German. I've learned more about Germany, thanks to Bruno, in these last few years, and indeed I've seen more Germany than most Germans.

Jenny: I was surprised and moved by Martin's answer when I asked him the classic question I ask most authors - looking back over your writing life at the stage of your career, if you were doing it all again, is there anything that you would change? And if so, what?

What Martin would change if he could...

Martin: Well, I'd endeavor to meet my wife earlier and have been married to her for longer, I guess. Other than that, no, not really. I just think that like so many people of my generation who were born in World War II,