After having enjoyed Louise Penny's last mystery, The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, I was anxious to journey with the charming, on his toes, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache once again. For those of you not familiar with this series, he is the top homicide squad detective of the Surete du Quebec. Previous books have been taken place in the not so peaceful town of Three Pines, but this time the story, actually (3) separate stories takes the reader outside of picturesque Three Pines.
As the story begins Inspector Gamache is relaxing and hoping to recover from both emotion and physical wounds of his last case which involved a shoot out which left his associate dead. While he is recovering, the body of Augusten Renaud, an obsessive historian, has been found in the basement of the library. Renaud had been searching for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, but the question now is WHY would someone want him dead? Reluctantly, Gamache agrees to help with the investigation.
The third intricate story involves Penny's previous mystery, The Brutal Telling. In this story a local bistro owner in Three Pines was sent to prison for the death of a town recluse. Letters arriving daily indicate that the wrong man has been sent to prison. The Inspector has his doubts about the incarcerated man's guilt well. As a result Gamache sends his Deputy (Beauvoir) to reopen this case.
Now while a story with three plot lines going on is not easy to pull off, without confusing some readers, Louise Penny has no problem. She is a master at fleshing out all the details, evidence, and tying up all the loose ends. The author has a delightful talent for describing in vivid detail, the sights, sounds, foods, smells as well as the beauty of nature in her mystery stories. The often beautiful sense of place, particularly, rural Quebec in winter, gave me a chilly feel as I listened to this audio book. The reader, Ralph Cosham, did a terrific job as reader. I love Penny's characters as they are so well developed, especially Armand Gamache, a man with a big job and a big heart to match.
Louise Penny mysteries have quickly become favorites of mine. If you enjoy a good mystery series, and like audio books as well, I can highly recommend this one, but I would read The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
was glad that I did).
RATING - 4.5/5 stars
Audio Book sent for review
New one for me. Will keep an eye out for this one.
ReplyDeleteI've got to try one of Penny's books!
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing so much about the Inspector Gamache books, and I am sort of intrigued by all of them. I want to check out the first in the series and see if they are for me, but haven't yet gotten the time to do that. Great review on this one. I am glad that you are enjoying these books!
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Louise Penny but never read any. I think this would be great for listening to.
ReplyDeleteI just started reading this series. Glad to hear from someone else who likes them. Now I'm even more excited. Thanks for the good review.
ReplyDeleteMario's Mom here - I loved reading and love mysteries. I'll have to check out that author.
ReplyDeleteI started the book to review last week and am having a hard time with it. I have not read the other books in the series and I am thinking that for this one, it's going ot matter. I was really curious about this author that's why I said I would check it out but i think i am missing some of the crucial back story and character development fromt the previous novels.
ReplyDeleteGreat review.
Thanks for the audiobook review, Diane! As a mystery fan I'll latch onto this one, but I'll read the other one first as you suggest.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first Louise Penny book. I'm listening to the audio now for Bury Your Dead. It was difficult at first with the three story lines, so I went to Borders to read some of the passages I missed. Listening to chapter 7 now and everything is great.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the audio narrator -- that is always a big thing for me, as I have to like the narration, or I won't continue, even if I like the story.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't know that author either, until now!
ReplyDeleteI really need to read this author!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to have to pick up this series--I've been looking for another mystery/crime series!
ReplyDeleteThree story lines? Hmm, I agree, Louise Penny is a good writer and she probably can pull it off. I have to say I was pretty disappointed with The Brutal Telling because well, because of the ending. I've loved all the previous books though so I will get to this one. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI have this book and am interested to read it -- I've not read any of the books before, so I wonder if reading this one alone will be confusing?
ReplyDeleteReally? I can't believe I haven't seen this title 'til now. MUST go on my Goodreads list! (man, visiting book blogs is making that list humungous!) Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteJulie @ Knitting and Sundries
I certainly reading her in 2011!!!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for the review on this book. My son just gave me an early Christmas present, a Nook, and this was the first novel I downloaded. I love to read but my eyes are telling me I need to go back to my optometrist to update my glass prescription. However, with the nook I can enlarge the letters - yay! So in the meantime I can get back to my beloved reading. This is a great book which I am enjoying very much, so thanks again so much. I am eager to read the next chapter.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this series, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading her 2nd book now, A Fatal Grace and of course it is a fantastic read. You are so right about her talent for putting the reader in the scene. I swear I could hear Gamache crunch through the snow on one of his long thinking walks in Bury Your Dead.
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