Dagger and Ellis Award Winning Author, Louise Penny is back with the second entry in her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. Readers are transported to the quaint Quebecois village of Three Pines during Christmastime. There is plenty of snow and carol singing and all would be peaceful but for the murder of new age guru CC de Poitiers.
CC de Poitiers is a newcomer to Three Pines but in the short time she’s been in the village plenty have witnessed her cruelty in one way or another. Whether it’s seeing how she belittles her daughter to how she touts her philosophy, “Be Calm,” even though she herself is self-absorbed and mean. When CC is found electrocuted on a frozen pond during a curling match there sure are a lot of suspects for Gamache and his team to sift through.
Inspector Gamache is a character that is just so likeable. He has old world charm and smarts. Here for example he tries to explain to Agent Lemieux how to handle his first murder case and the number one lesson to learn.
“You need to know this. Everything makes sense. Everything. We just don’t know how yet. You have to see through the murderer’s eyes. That’s the trick, Agent Lemiux, and that’s why not everyone’s cut out for homicide. You need to know that it seemed like a good idea, a reasonable action, to the person who did it. Believe me, not a single murderer ever thought, ‘wow, this is stupid, but I’m going to do it anyway.’ No, Agent Lemieux, our job is to find the sense.”
Along with Agent Lemieux, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir and Agent Yvette Nichols are back as are the villagers who featured prominently in the first book, Still Life. With their help Gamache will uncover the truth behind CC Poitier’s life and behavior. I especially liked seeing more of Armand Gamache’s wife and the return of the abrasive poet, Ruth Zardo.
I loved Still Life so A Fatal Grace had a bit to live up to. I enjoy all the details that Penny infuses in her novel even though this sometimes means that the action is a bit slow going but that works well for these novels which focus more on the emotions and behaviors of the characters. I was a bit confused by Inspector Beauvoir at times and I can’t say that I was very happy to see Agent Nichols back in the series but I do believe Penny is setting this up perfectly for the third installment. I look forward to it.
Added 07/07