by Louise Penny
I always look forward with anticipation to the Louise Penny books. She is my favourite mystery writer. However, while this book was very good I found the premise of the story a bit far fetched and the ongoing focus on criminals and revenge on Inspector Gamache less satisfying than a good old murder investigation.
She certainly knows how to develop a plot and build suspense. The story starts in the past, early in the careers of Gamache and Beauvoir his assistant. A woman's body is found at the edge of a lake. It is later determined that the woman was a prostitute and drug addict and was pimping her kids to people including the local police. The conclusion is that the children killed their mother. The oldest child, a girl, is sent to prison, her brother is put in care.
Gamache and his wife continue to support the girl including helping her get an engineering degree while in prision (is this possible??). Gamache didn't and still does not like her younger brother.
The book then jumps to the present when the niece of Myrna, the former psychologist and now owner of the Three Pines used book store, and the girl who was imprisoned for killing her mother are at a graduation ceremony.
The celebrations continue to Three Pines and the brother shows up much to Gamache's disgust. He and his wife are hosting the boy's sister at their house as they have in the past but Gamache won't invite the brother to stay with them. Later the boy gets his sister to let him into the house and he moves things around so that Gamache will know he has been there. He also takes photos in the house.
While this is going on Myrna decides she needs more space in her apartment above the bookstore. It is discovered that there should be more space and then her boyfriend receives an old letter in the mail indicating a bricked in wall. They eventually break through the wall to find a modified reproduction of a famous painting (with alterations that appear modern, not 100 years old, an old book of spells.
Then things get really elaborate and complicated. We find out that a dangerous serial killer that Gamache had imprisioned has escaped from prison, by paying off prison officials. This killer has someone take his place in prison (how??). The killer has produced this modified painting, broken into Myrna's place while she was away and inserted it through the ceiling of the bookstore). He has also arranged for the boyfriend to receive the strange letter about the bricked wall.
To me all this preparation, the letter, the painting, the breakin etc are too hard to believe. Supposedly the prisoner worked on it while in prison and imbedded some code into it as well.
In the end we find out the prisoner is the father of the girl who was imprisoned for killing her mother. Gamache, his wife and Beauvoir are almost killed when the criminal and the girl's brother hold them hostage in their home. Gamache ultimately kills the serial killer who has been involved with two more recent killings, along with the boy. The boy and girl go to prison for the killings and kidnappings. The boy hates Gamacher for ruining his family, taking his sister away from him, and ruining his life (being in care) and also for rejecting him while helping his sister over the years.
It was an action packed read but as I said I wish she would stop the plots that are so personal against Gamache and go back to some good old crime solving.
