While this novel was still good, I was not quite as enamored with this one as with Still Life. I think it took too long to get to the murder. The novel introduces Cecilia “CC” de Poitiers on the first page, and states within the first paragraph that she would be the murder victim, but Penny spent quite a while with CC and her other characters before actually getting around to killing CC. I was anxiously awaiting her death because she was horrible, and I […]
A Portrait with Surprising Depths
With fourteen books so far to the series, it’s not surprising that I feel like I have heard the Chief Inspector Gamache novels come up a bit. As the first novel in the series, I fully expected this to be a mediocre to decent novel, the usual first effort of a series where the author shows glimpses of the brilliance to come while also still finding her feet. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I liked this novel! First off, […]
Murder is Deeply Human
After spending two weeks in July on a Louise-Penny-inspired road trip, it was even more fun to return to the world of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team from the Montreal Surete. If you like thoughtful character-driven mysteries where the “who” is less important than the “why” and with a strong sense of place, this series is for you. These novels are not fast-paced tales of suspense but rather explorations of human relationships and tensions that lead to murder. Set in the Eastern Townships […]