Chief Inspector Gamache Novel: Kingdom of the Blind - An Unforgettable Mystery Adventure

BT: Louise Penny has an engaging way of weaving several stories into one. That is something I enjoy. At times it seems like she’s is pondering or wool gathering. I wonder if her publisher is insisting on more words or more pages where fewer would do nicely.

United States on Nov 05, 2023

M. Louise Ripley: Her plots are intricate without being so much so that the reader gets lost. Her people are wonderfully portrayed so you look forward to meeting them again and spending time with them in the next book. Great writer. Great Mystery writer. Great books. I hope she keeps writing. I’ve read them all so far.

Canada on Nov 02, 2023

Denise Foster: great read, gets you into wanting more

Australia on Aug 28, 2023

Kelly Weigand: One of my favorite Gamache books! I love these characters and can't imagine what I will do when I've read them all.. guess I will start over!

United States on Aug 18, 2023

#EmptyNestReader: “In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Erasamus Adagia

Chief Inspector Gamache receives a curious letter from a notary asking him to a meeting in an abandoned farm house near 3 Pines. His curiosity is piqued when he learns that his friend Myrna, the local book store owner and a retired psychologist, has received the same invitation. Another young man, Benedict is also in attendance. They have all been named “Liquidators” of the will of a now deceased woman, Bertha Baumgartner a/k/a "the Baroness”, whom no one seems to have known.

None of the deceased's 3 adult children are listed as a Liquidator, although each will receive an equal share of the estate. However, there is one small glitch… it seems that the deceased does not actually own the money or the property. Rather, it has become a part of family lore, passed on from generation to generation on both sides of years of a family battle, Baumgartners vs Kinderoth. "You can’t erase the past. It’s trapped in there with you. But you can make peace with it. If you don’t,’ he said, ‘you’ll be at perpetual war.’”

Shortly after the announcement of the named Liquidators, the...

United States on Jun 18, 2023

Peter the constant reader: So once again we have the wonderful ensemble cast of the residents of three pines. Such a delight that i read sections at time to draw out the enjoyment.

I discovered these wonderful books by accident and since then have steered many of our Canadian and Australian friends to also discover this little village. Once again Louise does not disappoint with her wonderfully drawn characters and incredibly twisted and intertwined plots. Please read the series in order.

Gamache, Myrna, and an unknown young man arrive at a deserted and derelict house. They meet a notary who informs them they have been selected as liquidators for the will of an old lady who lived there. Who is she and why have they been chosen? Then the inevitable murder.

There are some things which where Louise misfires slightly. The Bible verse Matthew 10:36 is repeated without subtlety. Party this is Jean-Guy's conscience and that is fine. Apart from that it is over used and quoted without context. If you take the trouble to read the reference fully it makes a lot more sense for the story. Perhaps this is the purpose as Gamache believes in a higher truth. This could explain the end justifying the...

Australia on Mar 23, 2019

Ariane: J'ai commencé la lecture de Louise Penny dans ses premiers romans édités en France. Puis, toujours impatiente de connaître la suite des aventures de l'Inspecteur Chef québécois, j'ai acheté directement au Canada les livres publiés en français, en moyenne un an après la parution de l'édition anglophone. À présent je lis les nouveaux tomes parus directement en anglais sur mon Kindle, même si je suis une piètre pratiquante de cette langue, le dictionnaire que j'ai intégré à ma liseuse m'aidant bien dans ma lecture !
Les détracteurs de Louise Penny diront que l'intrigue se déroule lentement, qu'on a parfois l'impression qu'elle "tire à la ligne". Mais par rapport à d'autres auteurs (comme Donna Leon ou F. Vargas par exemple) qui finissent par tourner en rond ou sombrent dans la facilité, les personnages de Louise Penny restent attachants, voire imprévisibles, et les intrigues, originales, me surprennent toujours. La violence n'est pas absente, loin de là, mais jamais gratuite, jamais "gore", et toujours contrebalancée par l'humanité des personnages.
Quant aux intrigues elles sont toujours rattachées à un fait historique (dans un des volumes...

France on Feb 11, 2019

Carolyn: 4.5 stars! I always open a new book by Louise Penny with joy. This is the 14th book in her 3 Pines series and have read them all. She has a unique style of writing which I am unable to compare with books by any other author. I enjoy the conversations which are sometimes infused by a sly sense of humour. There is mystery, often murder, action, and characters so well developed it is like visiting old friends.

The books feature Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, his police officers and the village of 3 Pines. The author has an amazing ability in establishing a sense of place. The atmospheric description makes the fictional village seem real. I not only want to visit, but I also want to live there, even while being aware of the frequent murders. I want to eat at Gabe and Oliver’s gourmet Bistro, browse through Myrna’s bookstore, view Clara’s paintings and even listen to the foul-mouthed Ruth reciting her poetry. The author is a lyrical, visual writer with a great talent in conveying emotion.

I was disappointed with books #10 and 11 in the series, I am glad to say that she is back in great form with her latest three books.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has been...

Canada on Dec 18, 2018

Glynn Young: Armand Gamache, former head of the Surete du Quebec, receives a letter from a notary, asking him to come to a farmhouse about 20 minutes from Gamache’s village of Three Pines. Once there, he discovers that Myrna Landers, owner of the bookstore in the village, has received the same letter. As has a young man from Montreal, a building contractor. The notary explains that they have been asked to be executors of a will of a woman known as “the Baroness.”

The Baroness has left millions in capital and real estate to her three children. The problem is that the Baroness was a cleaning lady, who had not amassed anything close to the sizeable fortune cited in the will. Her three adult children have heard the stories – a family feud buried under longstanding litigation that goes back to 19th century Vienna and has somehow survived the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and the confiscation by the Nazis. The litigation is still ongoing, but is there any fortune left?

Then the Baroness’s oldest son is found dead. What at first appears to be an accident turns out to be murder, and Gamache and his son-in-law (and chief of homicide) Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves...

United States on Dec 10, 2018