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_principal_spice_ 's review for:
The Brutal Telling
by Louise Penny
As always, I love the natural beauty and poetry of Penny's writing. While I appreciated the close-to-home take with this murder, I struggle with what feels like several loose ends just left behind or forgotten. I'm struggling to find the purpose of Vincent. I struggled to feel that the arrival, scenario, and plot development with this character muddied the water, or at least was a presence of confusion, annoyance, and agitation. I'm also disappointed that there wasn't any real elaboration or conclusion with the horses Dominique got. I found the beauty, love, and hurt in choosing her horses over the original options she had considered as heartrending and healing at the same time, but yet we are left with a blip at the end about one horse. The decision she made had felt so meaningful at the beginning and then made to feel meaningless and I just hate that this part of the character and plot development frankly dropped off the face of a cliff. Continuing with character development, where is some conclusion or reflection from Morin? I had been hoping for some update on Agent Nichol, but also understood that Gamache appreciates giving people chances to step into their own, so not having even a reflection for Morin was a shock. Also, to see that there are unspoken issues going on with Annie, but no real development between father and daughter--which just didn't feel plausible because even during the issues of investigation all while dealing with betrayal in prior novels in the series, Gamache still took the time to speak with his wife and both of his children. Also, why Beauvoir and not someone else, Ruth? I assume, like Clara, she sees something within him, but it sure feels obscure. Lastly--damn you, Fortin! I did find the story as a whole interesting, but there were some things that did leave me with more questions and confusion/frustration than I had anticipated. I can still appreciate the fact that Penny still does an amazing job looking into the heart and mind of human nature, which truly is a spectrum of all that is good, bad, and ugly.