The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
(Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10)
373 pages / 12 hrs, 4 mins

Inspector Gamache agrees to leave his restful retirement in a quaint village to help his neighbor Clara Morrow.  She explains that her husband, Peter, has failed to return home.  "Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache's help to find him."

"Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir...they journey deeper and deeper into Quebec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow...To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it The Land God gave to Cain. And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul."   --from the publisher

What an interesting book!  Penny knows how to weave a mystery and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Although I'm not reading the series in order, she gives enough background information so the characters are familiar to me.

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

The Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny --- 376 pages

Each addition to Louise Penny's masterful Chief Inspector Gamache series continues to surpass expectations. The eleventh book, The Nature of the Beast, is an intricately woven mystery that combines the iconic village of Three Pines, the familiar continuing cast of characters, a brutal killing, a deadly secret lurking in the woods, and international intrigue. Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of the Sûreté du Québec, savours the peace and simplicity of his retirement in Three Pines. But that hardwon refuge is threatened when a nine year old boy with a runaway imagination is found dead in a ditch soon after announcing he has found a monster with a giant gun lurking in the woods outside the village. Only Gamache begins to suspect this time the boy was telling the truth.

In a brief afterword, Penny explains that her story is based on the life of a real person, the controversial Canadian arms designer, Geald Bull, murdered in Brussels, Belgium in 1990; a case that has never been --- officially --- solved.

Click HERE to read a review from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Click HERE to read a review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read a review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the article on the real Gerald Bull from Wikipedia.

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny --- 405 pages

It's not often that a murder mystery and tale of political corruption leaves you with tears of joy at the ending, but Louis Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series is no ordinary mystery series.

This is the eighth book in a series that just keeps getting better. Christmas is approaching but for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, the joy of the season is overshadowed by the deadly power struggle going on inside the Sûreté, which he begins to suspect is linked to rampant, longstanding political corruption in the province. When he receives a call for help from an old friend in the small, isolated village of Three Pines, about a guest who has failed to arrive for a holiday visit, he welcomes the chance to escape from the city. But this case is also much more complicated than it appears, for the missing woman was once world famous, although now almost a recluse and mostly forgotten by the public. As the missing pieces of both puzzles fall slowly into place, the Chief Inspector and his last few loyal friends and colleagues need a safe, untraceable refuge. But is even Three Pines remote enough to hold off pursuit while Gamache secures the evidence he needs? Or will the peaceful village and its inhabitants become collateral damage in the final showdown when vengeful enemies close in on Gamache?

Elegant, evocative and pyschologically compelling, Louise Penny is a worthy succesor to mystery writers like Colin Dexter and P.D. James.

Check out Louise Penny's web site at http://www.louisepenny.com/