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erine 's review for:

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
3.0

Armand has retired to Three Pines, Jean-Guy has married Annie, and this is the beginning of everyone's happily ever after. Until Clara's concern for her missing estranged husband sends half the village to investigate his non-appearance. Peter Morrow's jealousy and sabotage led Clara to ask him to leave her alone for a year. But he was supposed to come back.

Inspector Gamache reluctantly puts his detective hat on again.

They trace Peter to their old art college, then across the Atlantic to Paris, to Italy, to Scotland, and then back to Canada to a remote art colony. Peter clearly is trying to develop his own art, endeavoring to shake something meaningful loose. Once they get as far as the remote art colony, there's the question of whether the art colony is a cult, a drug front, or an attempt to remake the Greek concept of the muse. After following Peter's trail hither and yon, via prop planes and a ship through storm-laden waters, dragging Reine-Marie and Ruth away from Three Pines as well as Myrna and Clara, after discovering the truth about an insane art professor, they finally find Peter. He's been caring for the insane art professor and then was planning on coming back to Clara. But first, a different, beloved art professor comes by and kills the insane professor, right at the moment Armand and his team of intrepid investigators gets to the island (even remoter than the remote art colony). And then the beloved art professor who was really a very patient murderer ends up threatening Clara's life and Peter sacrifices himself and dies. And it all really is Clara's fault because if she'd just stayed put, Peter would have eventually found his way back. But also, good riddance Peter, Clara deserves better anyway.

The ending was ridiculously abrupt. As though the whole story is just a way to say that it's the journey that matters, not the destination. And yet, despite how wild it was, I still find this series incredibly readable and have immediately checked out the next one.