So far, I have read all of Louise Penny's Three Pines series, and in order, no less; and have thoroughly enjoyed them all. The secret to that enjoyment is, of course, the main character, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. He is such a complex person, thoughtful, quiet, intelligent, kind and always determined to find the murderer. That he inspires the fierce loyalty of all those on his team is no surprise as he guides them and trains them to be better than they thought they could be. I just love him. However, I was a little disappointed in this story. The victim is a nameless hermit that no one seems to know, but he is found one morning on the floor of the bistro with a massive blow to the head. It was immediately apparent to me that the body had been moved there, but Penny makes that discovery seem to be the result of long, intensive research and astute detective work. Then Gamache becomes involved in solving so many aspects of the unknown man's life, some of which seemed to be left hanging at the end of the book. Questions were resolved with no tie-in to the murder and other questions were raised with no satisfying conclusion. So I was just a touch dissatisfied. Still, it was a gripping mystery with great twists and turns. I like how Penny doesn't protect her characters that we all know and love from the previous books from having foibles and serious character flaws. And this is the first book that I really begin to like Ruth and her pet duck, Rosa. While I didn't love how the mystery concluded, I did love the ending of the book. It's not my favorite book in the series, but still a fantastic read. I look forward to the next one.
Rating: 4.5
I've only listened to the first two in the series so far, but I've enjoyed them a lot. Gamache is such a great character.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see the series continues to hold up.