A review by leahthebooklover
The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

4.0

The 11th book in the series finds us back in Three Pines. Armand Gamache is still enjoying his quiet life in Three Pines with Reine-Marie, but the question of "what's next" is beginning to trouble him. Can he live out his days in this bucolic, secluded village full of quirky "lost souls", or is he meant for more? As he contemplates his options, a highly imaginative and beloved boy from the community goes missing. True to form, Gamache is drawn into the investigation that reveals a long concealed conspiracy of gigantic proportions, and draws him back into an old case that still haunts him, years after the fact. The plot for this book seems so preposterous as to be almost unbelievable, but it's actually based on a real event known as "Project Babylon". Although not as elegant as some of the other books in this series, it is still extremely well written and compelling. This is the first audiobook with a narrator other than the brilliant Ralph Cosham. Robert Bathurst is an adequate replacement, but his voice will definitely take some getting used to. His Quebecoise pronunciations will never compare with his predecessor, and his voice characterization of Ruth Zardo is dreadful, but otherwise his performance is respectable.