Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

20 reviews

sprklngglassslipper's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fatphobia, and Mental illness

There are characters that call each other unkind names, in loving ways, but as one is a homophobic slur (though the character is not homophobic) readers should be aware.

paxtyn's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Car accident and Suicide

openbookheartmind's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Murder, and Violence

passionatereader78's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Well written.  Lots of detail. If you love Mysteries you will like this series.  It's set in a small village, Three Pines in Quebec in Winter. Great book to cozy up with during fall and winter. I liked figuring out who committed the murder and why. Inspector Gamache is back solving another Murder.  An author is electrocuted at a village program and no one saw anything. Inspector Gamache and his team work together to solve the case.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Death

shirakotoko's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Yvette Nichol is my wife

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, and Death

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child abuse, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Violence, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Excrement, Car accident, Child death, and Infidelity

princess_azula's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Another fantastic mystery, twists and turns around every corner! The way the book and the characters discuss life and all it’s beauty and messiness is so thorough and beautiful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Suicide, Body shaming, Murder, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

Minor: Child death and Car accident

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I recall that when I read Still Life, the first in Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series, I didn’t get why everyone loved her books. Since then I’ve watched the Three Pines series on TV - the first two episodes are based on A Fatal Grace - and Alfred Molina makes Gamache such a warm, sad, and sympathetic character that it has changed my perception. 

Gamache and most of his team work well together and have a long history that the reader hasn’t (yet) seen. An inexperienced and, frankly, destructive member is foisted onto them, and this is part of a mysterious backstory that’s repeatedly referenced but not spelled out. I kept reading hoping to find out more, but was instead entertained by the mystery in the foreground, the murder of a villager whom everyone hated. 

Against this backdrop of tension and distrust, Gamache and his team must solve more than one murder to understand the misery in a family that’s been in Three Pines only a year or so. Seeing the interactions of the quirky villagers is the real delight here - Penny creates a whole system of friends and friendly rivals that expands with each book. We learn more and more about these characters, and about Gamache, and that’s the pleasure of these books. 

I really enjoyed this and I hope to read the first one again to see if I like it any better now than I did five years ago. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Murder, Body shaming, and Bullying

saricostanzo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Suicide

maethereader's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

I was really enjoying this book, it was nice to return to three Pines and get to know the characters in town more deeply. but it got too dark for me at the end, and the ending just didn't really satisfy at all. Also, there's really bad fat shaming which is so disappointing. 

I don't like it when characters die needlessly, and I feel like it was kind of going off in interesting places that just didn't pan out. (like the photographer… and why did he need to die?) and I felt like the reveal of who did it just didn't make sense. Why would the daughter do something so complex? And her story was just so sad.

I really love the idea of the series, having a cozy place to return to again and again with a bit of new intrigue each time. But the mystery disappointed, and the last quarter of this book just had too much darkness for me. Not to mention the fat shaming. I'm not sure if I'll be returning to Three Pines again.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Emotional abuse