When I contemplated writing a story about our 2022 visit to the Dordogne region in southwest France, I made a list of everything I had liked about the area: the food, wine, castles, churches, and ruins, the rolling countryside and rivers, and the layers of history, from prehistoric caves to medieval castles and villages. In addition, we encountered many reminders of the retribution committed by German soldiers during the summer of 1944, following the success of the D-Day invasion.
During our visit, I experienced a strange kinship with the prehistoric families who had lived in the limestone caves and had painted animals on the ceilings—the horses, bison, and stags they hunted for food at the end of an ice age. The caves were cool in temperature and sweet smelling, with ample fresh water and firewood nearby. I could envision living in a cave and raising a family.
On a drizzly morning in Sarlat, the market town where we were based, we prowled around the town cemetery, reading the many memorials to members of the Resistance. I cried when I found a monument erected for a local sixteen-year-old boy executed by the Nazis. Too young to fight, he was probably a courier, carrying messages or provisions from his family farm to a local Resistance group. The descendants of residents have long memories of the German atrocities.
In July 1944, money for Resistance operations was running out. Local fighters created a plan to steal a rail shipment of 2.28 billion French francs in 150 burlap sacks. The money was used for guns and ammunition, medical expenses, and food. A few months later, the German army moved north.
For my story, I created an American protagonist, Kate Carmody, a genealogy librarian, who, with her husband and local guide Bruno, set out to explore a prehistoric cave owned by Bruno’s cousin. A French woman with suspicious motives insists upon accompanying them. Kate’s instincts prove correct as the woman’s unscrupulous actions are revealed.
After World War II, the French government supported the preservation of Sarlat and other medieval towns in the area. Sarlat has street markets two days a week, and other than shops, restaurants, and small hotels, the town is completely restored. No gas stations, strip malls, or supermarkets. Dordogne is now a major tourist destination offering river sports, hiking, and cycling, with a superb local cuisine and wine.
Martin Walker, author of the Bruno, Chief of Police series, sets his books in the area.
Readers, do you enjoy visiting places you’ve read about in books? Writers, do you set your stories and books in places you’ve visited?
“Voices in the Caves” is in Gone Fishin’, Crime Takes a Holiday, ed. James M. Jackson, 2025.
This post was originally published at Writers Who Kill