"The Cruelest Month" by Louise Penny: A Mystery Novel Featuring Chief Inspector Gamache

xmitzi: Again finding my friends,their deep characters intertwined..a p d the mystery .
If you have not found these people yet…… it is a must.
Mitzi

Canada on Oct 03, 2023

Karen B Foxworth: I hope the old case the author referred is finally laid to rest. I enjoyed the case, the development of all the characters. As in the previous two books, the author keeps you guessing until the end.

United States on Sep 27, 2023

Paula Higgins: I have been reading other mystery writers, sone with recurring characters.
All were good, but Louise Penny takes this genre to an art form. Her writing is
witty, clever and intelligent. This is a writer I cannot recommend highly enough.
Her characters are endearing, well-developed and memorable. Inspector
Garamche and his wife Reine-Marie are treasures. I am on book #5 now and
I plan to read the whole series.

United States on Sep 10, 2023

Beth I-L: This book was a lot harder to get through than the previous two and I think it’s because virtually all the characters are so unlikeable. Even Gamache becomes untenable for his blindness about things that seem so obvious. While some of it I kept thinking was him being coy, a common device used in detective stories, here it was more than that.

I also guess it was the two storylines, both the murder in the village and the machinations against Gamache. The murder case was kind of boring and stretched out too much and the plot against Gamache just seemed ridiculous. We are given some of the background in an earlier book and it is too ridiculous to be believed. It certainly paints the police and the newspapers of Quebec as moronic. I can’t say more (though I’d like to be more specific) without spoilers. But the whole conceit just ruffles my feathers and makes the book just ok. The denouement scene gives us bonus closure and is done in the best Poirot or Columbo or Perry Mason tradition. Unfortunately one of the final scenes promises more idiocy to come. But the final scene gives us some element of hope for the village.

Lots changes here and I’m interested to see...

United States on Sep 08, 2023

Kimberly: I really like the overarching story Penny is is weaving. However, I do feel each book takes me a bit to get into. However, I feel pretty invested in continuing this series. I don’t mind the slower pace.

As with the others, I sort of figured out the culprit, sort of didn’t. Penny is really good at making me second guess myself—even when I feel the answer is obvious.

The last fifty pages of this one really got me. The way she revealed both this book’s main story and important pieces of the series’s continuing story. So good.

I do recommend this series. And will keep reading. I like this kind of reliable storytelling that’s intriguing even if not an edge of your seat thriller.

United States on Sep 03, 2023

Gloria Kilgour: I love the way Louise Penny describes the town , people, food so well that I feel like I know them and can clearly picture the bistro and food dishes
And then it’s the surprise twist she throws in that gets me every time.

Canada on Aug 17, 2023

GRB: This book started a little slower than the first two I read. I was wondering why things seemed to be moving so slow. Later on, I realized that it was all a preparation for a super interesting ending. Highly recommend it.

United Kingdom on Aug 03, 2023

Mary: The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #3) by Louise Penny.

Someone told me this series gets better. This motley collection of characters, in mythical small village in Quebec, which just happens to have the highest known murder rate per capita in the entire world outside the equally fictional Midsomer series, has piqued my interest. I accidentally started book 12 so I guess I’m in it for the long haul.

Most of Book three is further development of the cast characters including the very wise and paternal Inspector Gamache. It's fun reading how Gamache ferret out clues. He always knows so much more than he lets on. You are mostly along for the ride, but it’s an enjoyable ride, especially now that I've gotten to know the townsfolk so well.

There are 2 plots in this book. One is a murder in Three Pines, Quebec. The second is a group of Surete Quebec officers who want revenge on Gamache for something that happened years before. This part of the story is more thriller, in that the reader learns who the bad guys are in book 2. So it helps to read these in order.

Side note: I love all the Canadian references, something that many may not notice if...

United States on May 26, 2023

Mary R: This is the third in the series and just like the second one, when I started reading it I fell into a really relaxed state. It's amazing how a series can bring about a sense of comfort and relaxation, just like coming home.

Three Pines is a place I'd love to visit, full of charm and quirky characters, a great bistro and yet the source of various murders. This time it seems someone has died of fright, or have they? At the time Gamache is being hounded in the press with someone in the Surete determined to exact some form of revenge.

I just love the character of Gamache and the totally different characters in his team, and really enjoy the journey each investigation brings you on. This time, he made me more infuriated with his relaxed and determined reaction to the photos and stories in the press but you just can't help but love him in general. I was so wrong in who I thought had committed the murder but looking back, it was there the whole time. I was just so distracted by everything else that was going on.

A really enjoyable read in a great series.

United Kingdom on Feb 02, 2023

Laurie ‘The Baking Bookworm’: My Review: Penny once again writes with humour, heart and a whole lot of mad skill in this third book in her highly popular Inspector Gamache series. As in her previous books it's the characters that truly make this series stand out from all of the other mystery series our there.

I will admit that this wasn't my favourite book in the series so far but still a good read. I love that Penny doesn't spoon feed her readers dialogue or give away the mystery in one fell swoop. Instead she drops little hints to her readers throughout the book but in a way that you don't realize it until she decides to help you piece it together. The mystery itself was good (not great) but it was the people of Three Pines as well as Gamache's turmoil and side story that had me turning pages into the wee hours of the night.

The magic of this series is not only the stellar writing (Penny can fling some amazing prose) and the good mysteries but ultimately I keep coming back to this highly popular series because of the characters. Penny uses multiple points of view to give her readers an in-depth view of the mystery and its people but it never feels disjointed. These points of view really make...

Canada on Nov 02, 2015