My rating: 5 / 5
This is book four in the Chief Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. Over the last three years, I have read the first five books in the series. I’m currently reading book six, and I believe the ninth book will be coming out this year in August.
After years of investigating murders Chief Gamache knew one thing about hate. It bound you forever to the person you hated. Murder wasn’t committed out of hate, it was done as a terrible act of freedom. To finally rid yourself of the burden.
The series follows Chief Inspector Gamache, of the Sûreté du Québec. The Chief Inspector and his team work homicide cases, and each book focuses on a different investigation. The novels so far are set in, or related to the characters from, the tiny fictional village of Three Pines, Québec.
In Three Pines, you will be meet Clara and Peter, the artists; Ruth, the acclaimed poet; Gabri and Olivier, the gay couple who run the B&B and the bistro, and many others.
Murder was deeply human. A person was killed and a person killed.
The novels are mostly of the “whodunit” genre, and while I don’t read a lot of mystery-thriller type books, I am in love with this series. Oddly enough, I did not start out in love with the series. The first novel, Still Life, was very good. The second, A Fatal Grace, unfortunately, was not so good. It is, however, worth reading in the long run as it builds up the characters that we see throughout the series. After reading A Fatal Grace and not loving it, it was hard for me to continue the series. I eventually read The Cruelest Month, which is book three. Better than the second, but not as good as the first.
It’s a shame that creativity and sloth look the same.
And now, almost two years later, I decided to pick up where I left off. Guess what? Book four is amazing and so is book five. In the last four days, I read both book four and book five, and about one third of book six. I won’t be reviewing the next few novels in the series individually, but as I said earlier, the series has turned out to be fantastic.
“You have a rule against murder?” he asked.
“I do. When my husband and I bought the Bellechasse we made a deal with the forest…Everything that stepped foot on this land would be safe.’
A Rule Against Murder is set at Manoir Bellechasse, an inn regularly frequented by the Chief and his wife for their wedding anniversary. This year, however, they must share the inn with the Finney family, who are gathered for a family reunion. Surprising guests arrive, a summer storm sweeps in and leaves a body in its wake, leaving the Inspector to sort through it all.
Hmmm I’m intrigued… I think you mentioned these books when I last saw you.
I like that they are set in Canada too hehe ;p
I read three of them last week while I was at home. Usually I read 3-5 books per month, not per week!
I may actually start book 7 next… We’ll see, so many books to read!