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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I'm a huge fan of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series, and THE LONG WAY HOME is no exception. The same cast of engaging characters drew me into the pages, yet again. And just when I'd gotten my "sea legs" (no spoilers here), a completely unexpected twist came out of nowhere and threw me for the proverbial loop. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is. You wouldn't believe me if I did.
Glad to have read the series, but this last book was a little boring. All the things I enjoy most about this series- twists, turns, insight, beautiful descriptive passages all were in there, but only in the last 20 pages. Ah well, it was still worth it to "wrap up" the series.
I had almost forgotten about Peter Morrow until the author circled back around. This wasn’t my favorite mystery but I did enjoy hearing about a part of Canada I’d never heard of.
Louise Penny inspires me to learn more and more with each of her books. I learned about art and the St. Lawrence River. On to the next one.
A number of reviewers have said they think this is the weakest of the Armand Gamache mystery series. I disagree: that honor goes to The Beautiful Mystery, but I did find this latest book a disappointment, especially after its immediate predecessor.
I feel as though the series is alternating now between good and not so good books, and that the weakest links are those books that take place outside of Three Pines, that focus on Peter Morrow, his family, his background, etc., or that deal with some specialized field. This book has all three weak points. As in The Beautiful Mystery, Penny seems to have become enraptured by an artistic theme to the detriment of the story, wandering down esoteric paths more or less irrelevant to the plot. As for the plot itself: I foresaw the major twist no more than halfway through the book. (The ending was still a surprise to me, though I can't decide whether it was daring or cowardly.)
Perhaps the biggest problem, though, is that retirement and marriage have made Gamache Beauvoir, respectively, somewhat dull. Without their personalities and their struggles, the book has no depth.
I feel as though the series is alternating now between good and not so good books, and that the weakest links are those books that take place outside of Three Pines, that focus on Peter Morrow, his family, his background, etc., or that deal with some specialized field. This book has all three weak points. As in The Beautiful Mystery, Penny seems to have become enraptured by an artistic theme to the detriment of the story, wandering down esoteric paths more or less irrelevant to the plot. As for the plot itself: I foresaw the major twist no more than halfway through the book. (The ending was still a surprise to me, though I can't decide whether it was daring or cowardly.)
Perhaps the biggest problem, though, is that retirement and marriage have made Gamache Beauvoir, respectively, somewhat dull. Without their personalities and their struggles, the book has no depth.
I enjoyed it, just not as much as some of the others. I never cared much for Peter as a character, so a story focused on him didn't hold a lot of interest to me. The other characters were great as always, and the locations were described so well they could be used in travel brouchers.
This is my least favorite (so far) of Penny’s Gamache mysteries. Yes it has her beautiful writing and rich characters but the storyline in this novel was weak at best. A disappointment after her previous 9 triumphs.
This one is somehow quieter and somehow softer than the others up to this point--introspection and intuition hold at the center. I love that Penny takes these kinds of narrative risks to further the arcs of these beloved, ever-unfolding characters. I loved this one.
I have not read all of the Armand Gamache books, but have enjoyed what I have read. This one is a bit on the slow side, but as its author says in the introduction her novels are not traditional crime/detective novels: they encompass bigger themes, and this one concerns art, talent, life and death. Some parts are really humorous, especially the plane and boat trips towards the end of the book, and I must say it made for relief from some fairly deep philosophical musings. I will read more from this author, I am sure.