Oops

I forgot to review this book when I read it last month, so here’s hoping I can remember it well enough to write a review. It’s #6 in the Inspector Gamache series, a mystery series set in Quebec that I cannot recommend highly enough for those of you who like mysteries–but unfortunately Bury Your Dead was not my favorite entry in the series.

Inspector Gamache is on holiday in Quebec City to recover from a case that ended badly. He’s staying with a friend, but becomes wrapped up in the investigation into the murder investigation of a local historian who’s known to be a bit of a wacko. Meanwhile, his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, returns to the idyllic small town of Three Pines (where most of the rest of the series takes place) to revisit a murder case that they still have questions about. And in the third storyline, Gamache relives the traumatic case that led him to take a leave of absence and go to Quebec City in the first place.

First things first: this is far and away my least favorite mystery thus far. I didn’t really care who killed the historian, and I didn’t care much about any of the suspects or motives that were introduced. On the other hand, I really liked the way this case was resolved, so all’s well that ends well, I guess.

I did like Beauvoir’s subplot in Three Pines, because I had found the mystery they were revisiting (from book #5, The Brutal Telling) really interesting, plus I love spending time in Three Pines. That was a plus for me, but then again, I also didn’t care much for the third case that was discussed–a terrorist plot that Gamache thwarted, although it resulted in some loss of life and PTSD for Gamache and the other survivors. It’s not that I didn’t like this storyline, exactly–it’s more that three separate mysteries was a lot to keep track of, and I had trouble understanding what was going on in this one.

All in all, not my favorite of the series, but I still plan to continue reading them. And I think I’m in the minority on this one anyway–according to Wikipedia it’s won quite a few mystery awards. I guess it just wasn’t for me.