The Brutal Telling / Louise Penny

 

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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I have to say that as a Canadian, I have always loved the Canadian-ness of this series. This volume steps it up a notch, involving Emily Carr and Haida Gwaii. I think perhaps there was a bit more French spoken by the characters here, too.

Penny doesn't coddle her characters. She puts them through the wringer, aided and abetted by Armand Gamache. Not that he goes untested either--it's not easy to have your friends as suspects. Even the brand new characters, Marc and Dominique, are tested in ways they never suspected possible. Clara has her loyalties come into conflict with her ambition. Her husband, Peter, is tortured by his own feelings of competitiveness with his wife. Some of these situations are resolved more pleasantly than others.

However, there is some humour and lots of compassion. Penny seems to inhabit the characters, feeling things along with them. I have a hunch there are more turbulent waters in the future of Three Pines. I found it amusing that the people of the village also feel they are a murder vortex. Using small communities for murder mysteries makes the plot easier for the author, but they rarely let their characters realize that their community produces bodies, as Gamache's friends put it.

I look forward to the next installment.






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