Series: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1
About the author: Louise Penny is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (seven times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal. (Goodreads)
Major characters:
- Jane Neal, artist, the victim
- Clara and Peter Morrow, starving artists
- Gabriel Dubeau and Olivier Brulé, bistro proprietors
- Myrna Landers, bookshop owner
- Ben Hadley
- Timmer Hadley, Ben's mother (dead prior to story)
- Matthew and Suzanne Croft, and son Philippe
- Yolande Fontaine, Jane's niece; and André Malenfont
- Chief Inspector Armand Gamache
- Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir
- Agent Yvette Nichol
Locale: (fictional) Three Pines, Québec
Synopsis: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to the village of Three Pines to investigate the Thanksgiving morning death of artist Jane Neal. She has been killed by an arrow, and it is unclear if it is a hunting accident or intentional murder. Gamache is accompanied by his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, and rookie agent Yvette Nichol; who struggles to get on the good side of Gamache.
In trying to find a motive for her death, Gamache uncovers secrets among the locals. The body was found by Ben Hadley, whose mother Timmer died years before; and her death is somehow connected to this one. Jane had been secretive about her house, never allowing anyone inside. Jane's best friend, Clara Morrow, tries to find a hidden message in Jane's last painting, Fair Day.
Review: This is my first reading in this series and I like it. There is no gore or sex, which are turnoffs for me in mysteries (which I why I concentrate on Golden Age for the most part). The action takes place in an isolated village in southern Québec, not far from the Vermont(?) border.
Armand Gamarche reminds me of Richard Jury in the Martha Grimes series. He can get terse and testy at times, and treats rookie Yvette Nichol with cringy tough love at times. An unresolved question for me is what happened to Nichol? She got sent back to Montréal on a bus near the end, but will she return in future titles? I hope she gets her act together and returns.
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