I read the twelfth novel in this series (A Great Reckoning) and was enthralled, so I have started reading the series. I listened to Still Life on holiday (so no blog), but I have just finished listening to A Fatal Grace.
Here’s the blurb …
Welcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.
No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines. CC de Poitiers managed to alienate everyone, right up until the moment of her death.
When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Québec, is called to investigate, he quickly realizes he’s dealing with someone quite extraordinary. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village, as she watched the annual curling tournament. And yet no one saw anything. Who could have been insane enough to try such a macabre method of murder—or brilliant enough to succeed?
With his trademark compassion and courage, Gamache digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life to find the dangerous secrets long buried there. For a Quebec winter is not only staggeringly beautiful but deadly, and the people of Three Pines know better than to reveal too much of themselves. But other dangers are becoming clear to Gamache. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is coming for Gamache himself.
We’re back in Three Pines with the usual locals, and a new and very complicated murder. It’s winter and I love all of the wintery references (it’s Summer and hot here). Gamache and his wife are delightful as are the residents of Three Pines (apart from Ruth). Reading these novels (despite the murders) is like having a cosy holiday.
The novel is beautifully written, and the sense of place is extraordinary. I also like being in different characters heads – Yvette Nicole is quite something.
