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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series is my go-to palate cleanser or when I need an instant borrow from the library. They are similar to Agatha Christie novels as they are all whodunnits the star detective solves, but unlike Christie, Penny’s novels are set in the same small Canadian town so we get to know the side characters as well. Worth a read if you like a lighter, cozier mystery.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
The murder in this one took a back seat to the spy subplot. But that took some interesting turns and provided great character development.
The Gamache series here is an excellent cozy mystery series to continue to revisit. I know this was only book 3, but they are comfortable (hence: cozy) and familiar books at this point. I like getting to know the characters in this darling little hamlet, and I really love how constant and steady Gamache remains. A Dumbledore or Gandalf of this genre—dependable, likable, warm, intelligent, and forgiving...an ideal who may not be entirely realistic, but who is perfect for this setting and role.
Penny does a lovely job of laying the groundwork for the possibility to remain open for the answer to the whodunit question that circles and helicopters throughout this installment. I had my mind set on a couple of worthy candidates and I knew that I was fine with whatever outcome unfolded. Put it in cruise and just enjoy the ride.
Penny does a lovely job of laying the groundwork for the possibility to remain open for the answer to the whodunit question that circles and helicopters throughout this installment. I had my mind set on a couple of worthy candidates and I knew that I was fine with whatever outcome unfolded. Put it in cruise and just enjoy the ride.
An awesome 3rd installment to the series!
The characters are so well developed, and I've always enjoyed the deep thinking and philosophies of the characters. Such an engrossing cozy-ish mystery.
The characters are so well developed, and I've always enjoyed the deep thinking and philosophies of the characters. Such an engrossing cozy-ish mystery.
This book is where I really started to see why people love this series so much. Louise Penny does a thing I love where she writes incredible throw-away lines - dialog/thought processes that don’t actually contribute to the storyline, but add to the overall vibe of the book and its characters. For example, here is one of my favorite bits:
“The whole village knew that Madame Ferland had lost her son the year before, though she chose not to talk about it. Until today. When she talked about him to [Redacted], who recognized the gift of sorrow shared.”
Madame Ferland has nothing to do with the storyline, but adding her voice to the story, even for this one moment, makes it much richer.
“The whole village knew that Madame Ferland had lost her son the year before, though she chose not to talk about it. Until today. When she talked about him to [Redacted], who recognized the gift of sorrow shared.”
Madame Ferland has nothing to do with the storyline, but adding her voice to the story, even for this one moment, makes it much richer.
I’m comforted by the setting and the cast of characters but I’m still not sold on Louise penny. We’ll see how #4 goes! I heard they get better after the first 3…
Real score 5.15. There’s something special about this series. It has the flawed detectives, it has the calm lead - almost that sunglasses removing feel of CSI Miami - it has the coziness of a tiny town with two many murders per capita, and a bigger city’s worth of corruption. There’s food and poetry and ducks. I had been light on with mysteries for a while and suddenly have a few on the go. This is not the same. And, because of that, I love it!