A Better Man --by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache series)

 Fiction / Mystery

417 pages / 9984 KB

5 Stars

 

Thoroughly enjoyable! Complex story lines, woven together at the end. If you’re a fast reader, you might want to consider slowing down. The clues are all there, can you figure it out? 

 

Mostly this is the story of Gamache as he comes off his suspension/leave and returns to a job at the Surete. Lacoste also comes full circle and returns. I have a couple of questions that weren’t answered, and I’m hoping they will be next book. Then, again, perhaps they have been answered and I just don’t like the answers!

 

Vivienne has either been murdered or committed suicide. Her husband is abusive and the obvious suspect. But, did he do it? Who was her lover? Whose child was she carrying? Who else had a motive to kill her?

 

Why is Clara being treated like she is? I hope she gets redemption in the next book. I can understand why she feels the way she does — negative reviews hurt, even if correct. But why so vicious?

 

Perhaps the most important question raised is, is Ruth softening? 

 

Kingdom of the Blind --by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache series_

 Fiction / mystery

375 pages / 6643 KB

5 stars

 

Once again, I had a mini vacation to a fictional village, with fictional friends. As one of my t-shirts says, “Books make me homesick for places I’ve never been and people I’ve never met.” I do so enjoy my mini vacations to Three Pines and the surrounding areas. And to see what my friends are up to. A good cup of coffee, friendly gossip, and I’m good to go until the next book comes out.

 

This is the first book Ms. Penny wrote after her beloved husband died. It must have been terribly difficult, as well as rewarding.

 

Armand and Myrna and one other person unknown to them, have been chosen as executors to an estate of a woman they’ve never met. It doesn’t take long for a body to appear, in a most unorthodox place and manner. The “Countess” as she was known, has three adult children, why weren’t they chosen as executors? Why strangers with no apparent connection? How did one end up dead in his childhood home?

 

All good questions, and all questions will be answered by the last page. If you’re a fan of Gamache, I think you’ll enjoy this one, too. 

The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Gamache #10) –by Louise Penny

Fiction / Mystery  

385 pages / 1409 KB

4 Stars

I read fiction to escape my current reality. If I learn something along the way, so much the better. Sometimes I learn more than I knew I needed to learn.

There is a lot about art in this book that I found fascinating. And a lot about art in this book that I quickly became, while not bored with, able to skim with ease. I'm not sure how much we really needed to know, or how much Gamache & Co. would be able to figure out from the analyzing and reanalyzing ad infinitum, the art. But it's fiction, and I could suspend my disbelief.

And, to be honest, I didn't like the end all that much. These are my friends. Ms. Penny has introduced us, and I love them, and feel for them. And, yes, I know they are only make-believe, but for a while they keep me company, and I enjoy them. I really wanted to get to the end, and I really didn't want to do dishes, so I sat on the sofa and read it in one day. Maybe not my most favoritest Penny book, but still a good read!

The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #8–by Louise Penny

Fiction / Mystery  

384 pages / 1711 KB

4 Stars

I loved this book! I have been in love with the Gregorian Chants since I was a kid, and I love how Ms Penny used them as the background of this novel. Because I know little of monastic orders, I could suspend my disbelief and just read, and enjoy this story.

That said, I must also state I found the ending somewhat abrupt and less than satisfactory, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. There were unanswered questions asked in this book that I hope will be answered in the next one. I am still reeling from the tragedy in the warehouse, and now I must contend, at least until I read #9.

When I read fiction, I want to feel better when I finish the book than when I started it. I do not have that with this book. I will continue the series, because she has made me care for the characters, and I want to get all the loose ends tied up in a pretty ribbon by the end.

A Trick of the Light: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #7 –byLouise Penny

Fiction / Mystery  

350 pages / 1209 KB

5 Stars

Clara Morrow has finally realized her life's goal – she has a showing of her art in the Musee in Montreal, and a gathering of friends and fellow artists back at her home in Three Pines. Unbeknownst to her, her childhood best friend forever and college roommate and worst enemy forever has decided not only to crash the party, but have the temerity to be killed in Clara's garden.

So we are back in Three Pines, with all the usual suspects for this book. We look at Clara's art and the play of light and dark. We look at the same play of light and dark in people.

A thoroughly delightful story with thoroughly delightful characters. Well, most of them. A couple are, well, less than stellar.

Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #6 –by Louise Penny

Fiction / Mystery  

401 pages / 1282 KB

5 Stars

At the chance of giving away some of the book, please be aware this may be a spoiler alert.

I read book #1, and then went to this book. Don't ask me why I skipped books 2-5, I haven't got a good reason. I will go back to the others, in order if possible. It is in Ms. Penny's favor that the books are self contained, even though part of a series. It is also in her favor, as a writer, that I get so emotionally involved with her stories, her characters. She does not invite me in to sit on the sofa and watch as her characters entertain me, she grabs me by the hand and pulls me in to play right alongside Gamache and company. And, so, by the time I finished this book, I was sobbing uncontrollably.

There are a lot of flashbacks in this book, and they are not easily recognized, but once you figure out the first one or two, you shouldn't have a problem with the rest.

Gamache finds himself in Quebec City during its winter carnival, recouping from a trauma we get in flashbacks, and helping to solve a murder in a museum all the while getting troubling letters from Three Pines. People I met in Book #1 are in pain, and I suffered right along with them.

If you're a history buff, you'll enjoy the heck out of this book, I think. Even if, like me, you know next to nothing about the history of Quebec (let alone Canada), by the time you finish you'll know enough history to raise giggles when you go to Quebec and announce your ignorance. Then, again, you may become inspired enough to do some actually reading on the topic.

Good writing, great characters, marvelous story. Buy it, read it, review it.