Three Pines, Spiritualism, Murder, and Arnot

Starting The Cruelest Month (2008), the third Inspector Gamache novel by Louise Penny, was like reclining in a familiar chair by a crackling fire while snacking on a maple syrup garnished brioche while sipping a creamy café au lait. Almost too comfortable. At first. To Penny’s credit, she’s soon working twisted shadows into even the most benign and healthy seeming of people and places, introducing an old haunted house, and channeling her inner wiccan/psychologist. “Was something more sinister at work behind the pleasant facade of Three Pines?” Oh, you betcha!

In the first eight chapters Penny returns us to the main setting of her murder mystery series, Three Pines. The Quebec village (“where poets take walks with ducks and art falls from the sky”) is quirky and cozy without being trendy or edgey and, like Shangri La or Narnia, is only found accidentally by lost people who need it. Living in Three Pines is Penny’s recurring cast of eccentric and appealing people: the sensitive and sensible about-to-be-discovered artist Clara Morrow and her already successful but secretly jealous artist husband Peter, the prickly old foul-mouthed poet Ruth Zardo, the gay couple immaculate Olivier and disheveled Gabri who run the town B&B and bistro slash antique shop, and the large generous black former psychologist and current bookstore owner Myrna. Because none of those recurring characters could ever be guilty of murder (we assume), Penny introduces some new ones: luminous Madeleine and her generous friend Hazel, Hazel’s needy university student daughter Sophie, the widower town grocer Monsieur Beliveau, Odile (a bad poet who runs an organic shop) and her boyfriend Giles (an ex-lumberjack who crafts beautiful furniture from dead trees and talks to live ones), and the mousy wiccan Jeanne Chauvet. Jeanne, who is visiting Three Pines for the first time, quickly finds herself presiding over not one but two seances, the second of which takes place in the abandoned and cursed and or haunted old Hadley House and ends with someone apparently dying of fright.

If it is another Three Pines murder, who better to find the killer than Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec’s homicide department? In his fifties, he possesses a large, elegant figure, deep brown eyes, strong face, and laugh lines around his eyes. Though his native tongue is French, he speaks English with a British accent, having studied history in Cambridge U. He is incredibly intelligent and well-read, quoting at will from classics and contemporary poets. He is observant and patient (“I listen to everybody”), being especially interested in people’s homes and emotions (“The most important thing in a murder investigation is how people feel”). He trusts his intuitions. Unlike many of today’s detective heroes, he’s happily married and has successful children but no alcohol or demons poisoning his inside. He likes to recruit ostracized agents for his team. He is THE ideal father/teacher figure.

But will Gamache be able to solve the present mystery while having to deal with a media assault on his character and career engineered without his knowledge by his best friend from childhood Superintendent Michel Brevbeuf who has for decades secretly hated Gamache’s ability to live happily despite adversity? It’s clear that the five or so years old Arnot case (in which righteous Gamache split the Surete in two by bringing down a corrupt Surete superintendent) is still hanging over Gamache’s head. On his murder investigation team, in fact, two young agents are spying on him and sabotaging the case, the ever-unpleasant Yvette Nicole and the ever-eager Robert Lemieux. (Luckily, he also has reliable agents Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste) Will Gamache’s inveterate good faith and desire to rehabilitate lost causes cause his downfall? If this third book in the series follows the pattern of the first two, the murder case will be solved while the Arnot case is developed a little further without being resolved. We do learn here what the amoral Arnot was doing to merit being exposed, prosecuted, and imprisoned five years ago: destroying indigenous villages with agents provocateur, alcohol, and murder.

Penny writes rotating every page or two or less among the points of view of her varied cast of characters. She excels at getting in the heads of different people. However, by narrating via so many point of view characters as she tells her story, she may at times cheat by hiding certain key information from the reader that the characters would surely think about, whether it’s who’s side they’re on in the Arnot Surete cold civil war or how they killed someone (though this last is probably a flaw of most detective genre stories).

Penny writes interesting Quebecois cultural details (spring hailstorms, bear poop, French and English, hockey references, etc.). And food: creamy Brie or pate on crisp baguettes, eggs Benedict (with Canadian bacon!), pear and cranberry tart, maple laced brioches, frothy and steamy cups of rich and aromatic coffee, and more.

And she writes vivid similes, like “She looked as if made up by a vindictive mortician,” “dark circles under her eyes, as if grief had physically struck her,” and “Emboldened by the light, as though what they held was swords, they moved deeper into the house.”

And it’s a pleasure to eavesdrop on the witty Three Pines locals and on the wise Gamache and his agents. The characters talk about life and human nature, like the concept of the Near Enemy: unhealthy emotions masquerading as healthy ones (attachment as love, pity as compassion, indifference as equanimity). Gamache’s truism “It’s our secrets that make us sick” works perfectly in the story, as does the fact that some people can’t stand seeing other people (especially friends) happy.

Although Penny is prime when setting people to talking, teasing, philosophizing, questioning, musing, and so on, so far her action scenes are unfortunate. Each of her first three Gamache novels features a climax involving violent action, and each time it feels contrived, unbelievable, and even absurd. Luckily, such scenes are short and rare and don’t detract much from the overall excellence of her stories.

Ralph Cosham reads the audiobook with his appealing voice giving every moment in the novel the perfect pace and emphasis and mood without ever showing off.

This novel was a page-turning, moving, and humorous read, and I’m looking forward to the fourth Gamache story.

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7 people found this helpful

...Breeding lilacs out of the dead land….

This is a wonderful, entertaining book, subtle, yet not obscure in its underlying mystery, and engrossing in another which envelopes it. It is sensitive, literate, and wonderfully conceived, particularly in its revelation of the series setting, the village of Three Pines. To my surprise, I find it to be the finest of the first three novels. Until now, I have regarded Dorothy Sayers as the most-literary of mystery writers. No longer.

By the way, I, myself—having started with the sixth in the series—would advise reading the titles in order. When I come to the sixth book, once again,I plan to reread it. There is such continuity from book-to-book that I wish to reclaim what I may have missed upon the initial reading.

The Audible editions are beautifully narrated by Ralph Cosham. As I have discovered, the mixture of narration and text is extremely rich, and at times I much enjoyed reading the ebook while listening to the narration.

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2 people found this helpful

great story!

The plot has lots of twists and turns. interesting back story. would highly recommend to mystery lovers.

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Always a treat

I love this series and the narration is perfect fit for the stories and the locale.

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Characters who become people

While in my spare time, mysteries are a pleasure I hope for. Few are as well written as the ganache series. Louise Penny manages to create a small town populated by people with distinction and individual voices. In addition you come to know the traits of the investigative team and its leader. I strongly recommend this series

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Best of the Inspector Gamache so far

If you could sum up The Cruelest Month in three words, what would they be?

Excellent character development

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. The last book in this series I read I felt was very predictable and I had figured out the murdered half way through the book. This story wasn't as predictable, which made for much more entertaining reading/listening. Louise Penny did a great job of moving the characters to the next level and built on the relationships of the various townspeople and Surete officers.

Which character – as performed by Ralph Cosham – was your favorite?

While it would be easy to say Armand Gamache, I would say Jean Guy Beauvoit. He had an important breakthrough with Gamache in this book that was a long time coming.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but I did look forward to it with each "session".

Any additional comments?

Now that some of the characters have changed (for various reasons and ways) I am anxious to read the next book. Louise Penny got me hooked again.

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Loved it! I was hooked from the start.

I really enjoy the characters in this book and the mystery she weaves with them.

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outstanding, as usual

makes me want to move to Three Pines. I adore Louise Penny and her inspector.

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Just the best

I can't get enough of this series, I'm excited to see what happens in the future books with these wonderful characters

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Typically great Louise Penny

I love Louise Penny stories and this one was great. I kept me guessing and was the best Gammage story so far.

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