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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
definitely the weakest one so far, but also good riddance to Peter
3.5 stars
Peter left 3 pines with the agreement he would return in exactly 1 year to decide if their marriage would live or die. When Peter fails to return, Clara asks newly retired Gamache to help find him but is he ready to go back into the darkness and is she ready for for the truth. Together with Myrna and Beauvoir they track Peter across the globe and back only to find him with his murdered art professor (Norman). Gamache solves the case but not before the killer (Massey) finds him, Clara and Peter. All 3 will find what they are searching for but one will return home to 3 Pines in a casket.
The search for happiness, the search for inspiration, the search for courage, the search for the cure to a sin-sick soul are main themes in the book.
“After spending most of her life scanning the horizons for slights and threats, genuine or imagined, she knew the real threat to her happiness cane not from the dot in the distance, but from looking for it. Expecting it. Waiting for it. And in some cases, creating it.”
“There’s power enough in Heaven to cure a sin-sick soul”
Peter left 3 pines with the agreement he would return in exactly 1 year to decide if their marriage would live or die. When Peter fails to return, Clara asks newly retired Gamache to help find him but is he ready to go back into the darkness and is she ready for for the truth. Together with Myrna and Beauvoir they track Peter across the globe and back only to find him with his murdered art professor (Norman). Gamache solves the case but not before the killer (Massey) finds him, Clara and Peter. All 3 will find what they are searching for but one will return home to 3 Pines in a casket.
The search for happiness, the search for inspiration, the search for courage, the search for the cure to a sin-sick soul are main themes in the book.
“After spending most of her life scanning the horizons for slights and threats, genuine or imagined, she knew the real threat to her happiness cane not from the dot in the distance, but from looking for it. Expecting it. Waiting for it. And in some cases, creating it.”
“There’s power enough in Heaven to cure a sin-sick soul”
Even in retirement, Gamache can't catch a break. These are getting more and more intense for him and the police side stories. Poor Claira can't find her selfish husband Peter... why? Leave him girl, but I get it. Unless you know what happens, you'd live in limbo.
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one kept me guessing the whole way through, and made me shed a few tears in the end. Most excellent.
3 1/2 stars, maybe? I have loved every Inspector Gamache story, but this one was just disappointing. The first 2/3 of the book seemed to drag on and on; things only really picked up in the final 100 pages or so.
This appears to have been a deliberate choice on Penney's part. She mentions Heart of Darkness as an influence on this book, which I can certainly see (I hated Heart of Darkness, for the record, so perhaps that poisoned my view of this book). There's a lot of talk about rivers. Dark, brooding rivers. And sitting on benches. And quoting Gilead. (I also did not like Gilead. This book was just destined to fail me, wasn't it?) And there's a journey of sorts, although it took far too flippin' long to set out on it.
I think that I most missed the character development that usually shines in this series. They were just all so very flat.
Viewing this book as a one-off aberration and moving on to the next in the series...
2nd READING: Interestingly, on the second reading I like this one better and bumped it up a star. It still lags a bit from the others, but the slower pace worked this time. We are different people each time we read a book, and the person I am five years after my first review is older, wiser (I hope) and a little bit more understanding of what it looks like to live into our fears. I also didn't feel the characters were flat at all, they were simply growing DIFFERENTLY.
This appears to have been a deliberate choice on Penney's part. She mentions Heart of Darkness as an influence on this book, which I can certainly see (I hated Heart of Darkness, for the record, so perhaps that poisoned my view of this book). There's a lot of talk about rivers. Dark, brooding rivers. And sitting on benches. And quoting Gilead. (I also did not like Gilead. This book was just destined to fail me, wasn't it?) And there's a journey of sorts, although it took far too flippin' long to set out on it.
I think that I most missed the character development that usually shines in this series. They were just all so very flat.
Viewing this book as a one-off aberration and moving on to the next in the series...
2nd READING: Interestingly, on the second reading I like this one better and bumped it up a star. It still lags a bit from the others, but the slower pace worked this time. We are different people each time we read a book, and the person I am five years after my first review is older, wiser (I hope) and a little bit more understanding of what it looks like to live into our fears. I also didn't feel the characters were flat at all, they were simply growing DIFFERENTLY.
In this tenth entry in the Inspector Armand Gamache mysteries series, Louise Penny continues her winning combination of slow, methodical pacing with great emotional depth. This series continues to be my favorite one. Gamache begins his retirement and is healing psychologically after his career ended after a horrific crime in the previous novel. He and his librarian wife have now moved to the village of Three Pines where they have discovered peace and friendship. When an artist friend needs to find her missing husband, Gamache and friends respond, even as they struggle with their own distress. Using wit and warmth as well as a pervasive underlying tension, the author helps readers really see Three Pines and surrounding Quebec. The other subtle gem in this story is the insight given to the creative process and its relationship to one's soul. Outstanding...again.
I've enjoyed most of the Gamache series as light mysteries in a bucolic setting, but this one is disappointing. While it's fun to follow favorite characters, the plot in this story - the whodunnit part - is just not believable. Too fantastic and unlikely to make sense. I also think Penny's writing was not as interesting as usual. I found myself getting bored, and irritated at banal or obvious statements. I also don't need to have the clues restated for me every 25 pages.
Still, because I like the characters, I gave it 3 stars.
Still, because I like the characters, I gave it 3 stars.
I've never been a fan of Peter so I did not particularly care where he was or what had happened to him. Clara leading a search for a missing person was also a bit hard to accept, especially in the presence of two of the best homicide investigators in the country. The series has lost some of its urgency without the backstory of police corruption but the first part of the book which describes the Gamaches new life in Three Pines is a joy to read.
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes