The Murder Stone: A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery, Book 4

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #4

by Louise Penny

A New York Times Bestseller

'Impossible to put down' (Globe and Mail)

It's the height of summer, and the wealthy Finney family have gathered at the Manoir Bellechasse to pay tribute to their late father. But as the temperature rises, old secrets and bitter rivalries begin to surface. When the heat wave boils over into a mighty storm, a dead body is left in its wake.

Chief Inspector Gamache, a guest at the Bellechasse, finds himself with a building full of suspects. With the hotel locked down, the murderer is trapped. But a cornered predator is always the most dangerous of all...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime, Canada, Mystery Thriller, Adult

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

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.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this series, I'm never quite as happy when it moves too far away from Three Pines. I re-read this one because a new edition came up on the library's new bookshelf. And, all that I remembered well was that's the one with Peter's crap family. Besides, beloved and departed Ralph Cosham narrated it.

***********************************************

How is it the people in this series eat the way they do and aren't all built like weebles! I couldn't smell all the delicious food and drink that they consume four or five times a day without gaining weight. Sure, they occasionally mention exercising, but it doesn't interfere with their normal activities.

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #4)
by Louise Penny (Goodreads Author), Ralph Cosham (Narrator)

Of the four books I've read in this series, I think this one is my favorite so far. Little time is spend in Three Pines, but instead, most of our time is spend at Manoir Bellechasse, the old hotel where Gamache and his wife spend each wedding anniversary. There is a murder this year and, of course, there are more than a handful of murder suspects. Some of my favorite parts of the story are references to Star Trek and the character of Scotty, the mention of a Beatles song, and the incident with little Bean and the cookies. And then there is Gamache's second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, who intrigues me with his inner thoughts and outer appearance of natty-ness.

Published January 20, 2016 by Macmillan Audio (first published 2008)

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Previously on Goodreads, my review for book 3

You know?
These are really growing on me.
Thanks, Mom!

So, here's a stupid conversation I had with my mom last week while we were sitting in the waiting room between doctor's appointments.
Me: "Oh, hey, I'm listening to the next Louise Penny book."
Mom (perks up): "Which one?"
Me: "It's either the fourth or the fifth. It's the one that takes place in the lodge out in the wilderness and there are snotty rich people there while Gamache and his wife, Reine Marie, are celebrating their anniversary."
Her: "...?"
Me: "The daughter is killed by the statue of her father? The rich family had all came together to remember the dad by putting a statue of him in the garden of this lodge? There's a big storm and, afterward, the gardener finds the girl squished under the knocked-over statue?"
Her: "...I don't think I've read that one."
Me (putting it down to chemo amnesia): "Oh, I'm sure you have. Like I said, it's the fourth or the fifth one. Ruth Zardo's duck hasn't even begun to feature prominently. It was only born in the last book and Three Pines hasn't even shown up in this book. I don't know what else happens, yet, I'm not that far in so I can't tell you anything else, but I'm sure you've read it."
We look at Jim. He shakes his head and shrugs.
Mom: "Well...I haven't read these in order. I probably never read this one."
Me: "WHAT? You've been making me read these so we could talk about them but you haven't even been going in order?"
Her: "I just wanted you to read about the duck. The old lady and the duck are my favorite part."
*sigh*

Alright, well, I am reading these in order and the overall story, it is growing on me.

The mystery in this particular installment was actually kind of weak. I'd give it two stars. I'd come up with a far twistier Who/Why/How and was disappointed in the actual results. Ok, my explanation would have made it darker and more evil and this is a cozy mystery but still. I had one eyebrow raised (yes, I can do that) with that "Really?!?" look on my face for the last half of the last CD.

But who cares?
I'm not reading these for the crime-solving element. I'm reading these for a duck, because my mom told me to, and I've become fond of Chief Inspector Gamache and his wife and the village of Three Pines.
In addition, I loved the setting of this one and now I want to go to that lodge and eat Chef Veronique's food and hang out by the lake and look at the spiffy copper roof and smell the honeysuckle.
Completely charming.

Next, my review for book 5

[Adina ( back from Vacay…slowly recovering) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, it took me a while to write a review. Sorry Guys.

As you can imagine, if I got to no.4 I really like this series. Then why only 3 stars? Hmm, I think I wanted a break from Three Pines which it was but not totally as you will see if you read this one. Also I did not feel the motive behind the murder was strong enough. However, the series is still awesome and will continue with it.

Why I love this series:
- the characters; I just love Inspector Gamache, his team and some of the inhabitants of Three Pines. Even the negative characters are interesting.
- the writing is special. There are so many quotable passages which include many truths about life.
- the murders, never dull
- I love how the personal life of the characters is mingled with the plot in just the right amounts
- there is darkness in these books so it is not all cosy
- last but not least the FOOD descriptions that make my mouth water. I can’t wait to visit the area to check if the food is as appetizing as it appears in these books.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. This is book 4 in the Armand Gamache series and I recommend that you read them in order, as there are continuing plot developments. I thought that the first 100 pages were rather slow. My wife read this book before me and she thinks 4 stars and says that the author spends time developing intricate characters/plot lines. She savors each page. The first 90 pages have Armand and his wife Reine-Marie enjoying a well deserved vacation from his job as Chief Inspector of the Homicide Department of the Quebec Surete(police). They are staying at the Manoir Bellechasse, a luxury wilderness lodge in the Eastern Townships part of Quebec.
There is also another group of people, the Morrow family, staying at the lodge. They are nasty, entitled, arrogant people. The most poisonous is Irene Finney. She is the widow of Charles Morrow, now remarried to Bert Finney. Her character makes me think of an alleged conversation between Lady Astor and Winston Churchill:
"If you were my husband, I would put arsenic in your coffee."
"If I were your husband, Madam, I would drink it."
Then a body is found, and Armand calls in his team of investigators. Armand suspects that Julia Martin, Irene's daughter, has been murdered and he sets out to find the killer. I did not suspect the killer until the end.
Two quotes:
Manoir Bellechasse dessert: "For Madame we have fresh mint ice cream on an eclair filled with creamy dark chocolate, and for Monsieur a pudding du chomeur a l'erable avec creme chantilly."

"The scents of a Quebec summer. Cut grass and bug repellent."
My wife and I visited the Eastern Township last summer and the black flies are very nasty. One bug bite on my leg swelled up into an ugly red sore and stayed for a week.
This was a library book.

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A modern psychological mystery!

As Hercule Poirot encoutered in Agatha Christie’s THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES or Jane Marple faced in AT BERTRAM'S HOTEL, the list of possible murderers in Louise Penny’s THE MURDER STONE is closed and short. The setting, the Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated lodge in the Quebec wilderness on the south shore of the St Lawrence, cheek-by-jowl with upstate Vermont, is also closed and confined. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the head of the homicide division of La Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force, and his wife are there enjoying a well-earned anniversary celebration. They share the hotel with the matriarch of the Morrow family, her new husband, her brood of unhappy children with their spouses, and one very strange grandchild. It becomes clear that the Morrow’s and the Finney’s family portraits could well serve as a portrayal for the Oxford Illustrated Dictionary definition of “dysfunctional”. When Julia Martin, the angry daughter ostracized by her family since her teen years when she was shamefully embarrassed by some awkward teenage misogynistic graffiti, was crushed underneath a newly commissioned statue of her father, it is obvious that the murder was committed by someone in the hotel. The hunt is on and it is left to Ms Penny to lay out the clues for the reader and monsieur Gamache alike.

While there are many similarities to Agatha Christie’s cozy mysteries of the early 20th century, THE MURDER STONE is much darker, much grittier, much bleaker, and much more atmospheric and intense than its forebears. One might characterize it as a “psychological” mystery in that the author spends at least as much time inside the heads of the protagonists as she does following the investigation from the outside looking in. Consider this tiny example as Agent Lacoste attempts to unfold the meaning of a crumpled up note which she found in the fire grate of the deceased’s room in the hotel:

“Why did Julia put most garbage into the wastepaper basket, but toss these into the grate? It was a bit like littering and Agent Lacoste suspected the Morrows thought themselves above that. They might murder, but they’d never litter. And Julia Martin was nothing if not courteous, to a fault. So if she didn’t put them there, somebody else had. But who? And why?”

It’s hardly high speed, scintillating action but it does put an entirely new twist on the thought processes that are involved in the investigation of a murder. And, despite the fact that the plot moves along with the glacial pace of water struggling to flow through a Canadian wilderness swamp backed up by a beaver dam and choked with loosestrife and bulrushes, Penny doesn’t stall or lose the reader’s attention for a single moment.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

P.S. I couldn’t help but note, in passing, that I read this in the week following the GOP’s confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh into the US Supreme Court. Given that, I wonder if Ms Penny would welcome the opportunity in future editions of her novel to rephrase a comment that Agent Lacoste made in reference to the disparaging washroom graffiti penned by one of the male members of the Finney family, “But that’s thirty-five years ago. We can’t judge the man by what the boy did!”

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series continues to get better as I binge my way through the collection. The detail and bucolic nature of the pieces invite me to keep reading, as though I have developed an addiction for all that is Gamache. Chief Inspector Gamache accompanies his wife, Reine-Marie, to their annual retreat for a chance to recharge. Upon arrival at Manoir Bellechasse, the Gamaches learn that they will not have the solitude to which they are accustomed, as a family reunion brings much excitement and fills the rest of the rooms. It is only with the arrival of Peter and Clara Morrow—residents of Three Pines—that the Gamaches feel a connection to this larger group. The Finneys/Morrows are textbook dysfunctional, from their treatment of one another through to the odd way in which one of the children is kept isolated from others. As part of their reunion festivities, a large sculpture of the long deceased family patriarch is unveiled, which only adds to the tension. After a significant storm, the body of Julia Martin is found under the sculpture, though it is not entirely clear what might have happened. While many would expect Peter and his family to react, none are overly shocked or doubled by the event, soon deemed a murder. Gamache alerts his fellow members of the Homicide squad with the Sûreté du Québec, turning this quiet community into a hive of action. As the squad tries to peel back the layers on this odd family dynamic, they learn some of the core issues that have simmered below the surface for decades. Even Gamache is not immune to being roped in, as his own family has ties to the brood, in the most obscure way. With a killer surely amongst the group, it is not simply trying to find a motive strong enough to murder, but choosing which of many is most likely. Penny keeps the reader highly entertained throughout in yet another Canadian police procedural. Highly recommended for the reader who likes ‘quaint’, yet intense, mysteries full of Canadiana.

Louise Penny makes a reader’s full commitment to the stories and characters quite easy. The Eastern Townships prove an effective setting to promote a unique set of stories that are easily differentiated from much that is on the market at present. There does not seem to be an end to Armand Gamache’s development as the series protagonist, while not trying to do too much in short order. Penny releases some essential backstory again in this piece, balancing his ever-evolving relationship with Reine-Marie against some tidbits about his parents, who were killed when he was just a child. This personalisation by Penny will likely prove highly important, as the series reader will want to know as much as possible in order to fill much of the as yet unknown early years in Gamache’s life. Penny touches on some of the Homicide squad, as they continue to appear in the series. While I have not mentioned him before, Jean Guy Beauvoir, the second in command, continues to show shards of his personality. Closed off and highly judgmental, Beauvoir is the polar opposite to Gamache, though is able to extract needed information to help secure an arrest. With this group log suspects, Beauvoir may need to pull out all the stops, just to make sense of things. Without a full cast of Three Pines residents, it is the Finneys and Morrows who provide much entertainment and the odd cringing moment as the narrative progresses. The story moves at a decent pace, through by no means the best of the series to date. Penny keeps the reader in the middle of the investigation, though there are many layers through which one must penetrate to find how the victim and killer reached their climax. I love all the Canadian references, something that many non-Canadians may not find as alluring. Their placement makes me feel at ease and I hope others will enjoy them—eh?! Bring on more Penny and keep them coming, if you please!

Kudos, Madam Penny, for intriguing me greatly yet again. I cannot stop reading these books, a sure sign of being fully ensconced in the series.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Number 4 in the series and I actually enjoyed it a little less than the first three. It may be because I listened to this one on audio and I found the narrator annoying - he had a lovely voice and a beautiful French accent but he read in a kind of staccato, the words jumping out instead of flowing. Or it may be because the book itself was a little weaker than the earlier ones.
Armand Gamache was his usual charming self and this time his charming wife was very much in evidence too. It was a good thing they were so incredibly charming because the Finney family were the ultimate in obnoxiousness. The author went a little over the top here with their verbal nastiness to each other and everybody else.
The crime was original with no apparent reason for how or why it took place. In the end the how was explained perfectly, the why was a little weak.
Nevertheless I enjoyed the whole thing and I am still keen to continue with the series. I think I have many more excellent books ahead of me:)

[Anirudh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I began reading this book with high expectations. It had received a lot of praise and high ratings. So naturally I was eager to unravel its mysteries. But unfortunately, it was a letdown. I am not sure whether the author was trying to write a crime thriller or a family drama. I would not call this a thriller, as there is no thrill. None what so ever. There were a few good points and a lot of bad points which made me give this book 2 stars. SPOILER ALERTS!!

POSITIVE POINTS

1. Setting. The protagonist is Canadian. And the setting is in Quebec, Canada. It is a major plus point of the novel. There are only so many American detectives you can read about. It was refreshing to see a detective who is also a family man for a change. Most detective stories feature detectives who are scarred in some way, either always alone or divorced, cussing regularly. But not here.

2. How. The ‘how’ in the book was quite interesting. When you write a seemingly impossible murder you must make sure you have a plausible and interesting explanation. That has been nailed here. Both how the murder was committed and how the protagonist figures it out was brilliant.
3. Dialogues. Some of the dialogues were brilliantly written. They would have fitted more in Russian literature, but they were good none the less. There is some light humour and some witty dialogues as well.

NEGATIVE POINTS

1. Plot. The plot was a major let down. It’s basically a locked room mystery, having taken place in a remote cottage. But more than 50% of the book has absolutely nothing to do with the murder. Instead we get to read about a dysfunctional family which is dysfunctional for no particular reason. We read about the good inspector and his family, including completely pointless flashbacks of his father who is supposedly a coward. (Not sure why refusing to go to war and participate in violence is cowardice.) Not to mention one of the strangest father son conversations I have ever seen. The book is filled with situations and dialogues which have nothing to do with anything. Poems and pointless philosophical conversations overshadow the actual murder and its investigation.

2. Characters. This is the part which irked me most. The author tries very hard to show the readers that Armand is such a good person. A good friend, a great husband etc. He plays papa bear to pretty much everybody and all of his colleagues seem to want to impress him, get a pat from him, bask in his approval and as one of them puts it, “he longed to fall into his arms, like a child. He was deeply surprised and ashamed of the nearly overwhelming urge. It was as though a hand was shoving him firmly from behind, toward this powerful, commanding man.”
The Morrows are another matter. Their depiction confuses readers as there is no particular reason for their peculiar behaviour. Nothing tragic has really happened to them for them to be as extreme as they are. If stern fathers were all that took to create the type of people here, there would be a morrow in pretty much half the world. There is a character who names her child ‘Bean’ and refuses to reveal whether the child is a boy or a girl just to spite her mother. (And the child is nearly hitting puberty!) She even considers renaming him syphilis because her mother got used to Bean! You would think that something terrible must have happened to her like to Lisbeth Salander for her to act like that. But in reality, nothing has really happened. The character of Bean himself draws attention to him/herself only to disappoint readers that he/she was of no particular significance other than proving a philosophical point and a roof top ending.

3. Pace. The murder itself takes its sweet own time to appear. And when it does there is no thrill which is generally found in crime stories. The killer is among them and yet no one is in a hurry to catch the killer. The Inspector himself is busy discussing poems and having philosophical (and pointless) conversations about his father with his father’s old friend. There are a few twists and turns, but they were a letdown. There is no sense of urgency.

4. Murder. The murder itself was confusing. The ‘how’ itself was brilliant but the ‘why’ was a big mystery. The murderer’s reason does not really convince me. Murderer says that the arrival of the victim triggered an urge, that the murderer couldn’t take the injustice anymore. Was it then a crime of passion? But the incident that triggered the murder was a long time ago and the victim didn’t have anything to do with it. If it was because of passion I would expect a kitchen knife and a stab wound. But the method of killing was most unusual. It was well planned and took several days to execute. Was it then a crime of opportunity? Or premeditated? But then what purpose would it serve? The victim had nothing to do with the murderer’s grief at all!

As a family drama this book would provide quite an entertainment. I suspect most readers liked it for the same reason. But as a crime mystery this was a letdown.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★
“The Morrows seemed to believe there was a special code that allowed them to say what they liked about others, deliberately within their hearing, without it’s being discourteous.

‘Isn’t that the ugliest baby you’ve ever seen?’

‘You shouldn’t wear white if you’re fat.’

‘She’d be prettier if she didn’t scowl all the time.’

The last had been said about her, on her wedding day, as she’d walked down the aisle smiling and joyful on her father’s arm.

The Morrows could be counted on to use the right fork and the wrong word.”

And you can count on them here for some spiteful digs at each other as all are investigated as possible murder suspects. But first, where is this? Quebec, in the isolated but magnificent Manoir Bellechasse, an inn on Lac Massawippi.

Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are there, celebrating their wedding anniversary. It is one of the finest auberges (inns) in Quebec, a place to rest, unwind, and quietly enjoy each other’s company. They are a devoted couple, and it is a joy to visit with them in each Inspector Gamache novel (this is #4).

Gamache is a tall, courtly, cultured man who quotes poetry, and whom we’ve enjoyed meeting during murder investigations in the small village of Three Pines (the other side of a distant hill from the lake. We do get to go to Three Pines briefly in this story, but the food and the staff and the general ambience of the Bellechasse give it a good run for its money, and I certainly enjoyed my virtual stay.)

[Penny tells us in her acknowledgements that this is very much inspired by the real Manoir Hovey in North Hatley, Quebec, so if you want a taste of it yourself . . .but I digress.]

Chief Inspector Gamache is also the head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec who notices everything. For a man who admires the best of life, his lot is to study the worst.

“He’d come to the Bellechasse to turn that off, to relax and not look for the stain on the carpet, the knife in the bush, or the back. To stop noticing the malevolent inflections that rode into polite conversation on the backs of reasonable words.”

And he’s doing a fine job of just that, enjoying being waited on hand and foot by the young staff. Chef Véronique and maître d’ Pierre make a point of hiring new, English-speaking people every year to help them learn French.

Penny has a good knack for setting an almost cloyingly sweet scene and then disrupting it with some clever and/or bitter conversation which may lead to violence. The arrival of the Finney/Morrow family, referred to in the opening quote, provides all of that. They are a mix of self-absorbed, selfish, peculiar characters, who treat everyone, including each other with disdain. The antithesis of the Gamaches.

There is a murder, of course, and an investigation. There is also a lot more revealed about Gamache’s background, his childhood and upbringing, which adds an extra, welcome layer to the novel and the series.

I actually guessed something of what was involved in the murder (not that I could have pulled it off, mind you), but the whodnnit was a surprise. And I'm not convinced I had been told enough to have figured it out, but I don't care. I still loved it.

Penny’s characters and settings are real and recognisable and give depth to her stories that other mysteries lack. I enjoyed this excerpt from the acknowledgements, remembering the book was written in 2007.

“It took me a lot longer than it should have to realize that Armand Gamache isn’t simply my fictional husband. Indeed, without even realizing it I based Chief Inspector Gamache on Michael. A man who is content and knows great joy, because he’s known great sorrow. And mostly, he knows the difference.”

Sadly, Dr Michael Whitehead died a couple of years ago, and you might appreciate reading this about him. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montre...

I’m so glad I was able to meet him through the Chief Inspector. I do think readers will enjoy these books more in the right order, but if you haven’t read the earlier ones, Penny does fill you in. There are no plot points, as such, that carry over, just characters. But what characters they are. :)

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

In this 4th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the Canadian detective investigates a very puzzling case. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec is celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary. To commemorate the happy occasion Gamache and his librarian wife Reine-Marie are enjoying a vacation at the upscale Manoir Bellechasse near the village of Three Pines - where many of their quirky friends live.







Other guests at the Manoir Bellechasse are the Finney/Morrow clan, who are having their annual family reunion.



The matriarch, Irene Finney, is hosting the middle-aged children from her first marriage to multi-millionaire businessman Charles Morrow. In addition to Irene's current husband Bert Finney, the attendees include her offspring who are (from oldest to youngest):

- Thomas Morrow and his wife Sandra - an unpleasant couple who expect everyone to defer to them.

- Julia Martin (née Morrow) - who's in the midst of divorcing Ponzi scheme criminal David Martin.

- Peter Morrow and his wife Clara - both of whom are artists living in Three Pines. They also happen to be friends of the Gamaches.

- Marianna Morrow - an architect who brought her nine-year-old child Bean.

The Finney/Morrow tribe is beset by secrets and lies, and the family members dislike each other intensely. Mother Irene is cold, mean, and condescending and the brothers and sisters constantly spat and put each other down. Much of this behavior is a holdover from childhood, when the children competed for the their father's love and attention.



During the family reunion, a statue of Charles Morrow - commissioned by his wife - is to be raised on the hotel grounds. The Morrow offspring have ambiguous feelings about this (paid for) honor, but, as always, they defer to their controlling mother.



For the Gamaches, things go smoothly for their first few days at the Manoir Bellechasse. They enjoy delicious food prepared by Chef Véronique Langlois; stroll through the picturesque grounds; relax; and engage in polite conversation and nightly bridge games with the other guests.







The Gamaches never mention their professions, however, and the snobby Finney/Morrows come to believe Armand is a shopkeeper and Reine-Marie is a cleaning woman. The priggish family is disabused of this notion, however, when a murder occurs and the 'shopkeeper' leads the investigation. This part is very amusing. LOL 😊

The murder weapon is the statue of Charles Morrow, which topples and kills a family member. This seems to be an impossible crime since moving the sculpture - which weighs tons - would require an entire football team or heavy machinery.....things that would be noticed.

Gamache calls in his homicide team, Agent Isabelle Lacoste and Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir, who assist with the investigation.



Both Beauvoir and Gamache find it hard to be completely objective however: Gamache because he's friends with Peter and Clara Morrow; and Beauvoir because he has an odd interest in Chef Véronique, who seems familiar to him.

Other characters in the story include Madame Clementine Dubois - owner of the Manoir Bellechasse; maître d' Pierre Patenaude - a long-time employee who runs an impeccable dining room and trains the wait staff; Elliot Byrne, a new waiter who's insolent to Pierre and makes fun of the guests behind their backs; Colleen, a young gardener; Yves Pelletier - the sculptor who created the statue of Charles Morrow; and several residents of Three Pines, including the innkeeper Gabri and the disgruntled poet Ruth and her duck Rosa.



In the course of the story we obtain information about Armand Gamache's backstory - some of which is quite surprising, and learn details of Jean-Guy Beauvoir's personal life with his wife Enid.

Gamache eventually catches the perp, but not before a harrowing scene where he almost loses his life.

I enjoy Penny's Armand Gamache books but find that they tend to be overly 'literary' - by which I mean the main characters' thoughts tend to be philosophical treatises. Most people don't think like this and it doesn't ring true. The author may be using this technique to convey her personal ideology, but it's distracting IMO.

Still, this is an enjoyable mystery, recommended to readers who like suspense novels, especially fans of Armand Gamache.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

[Beata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed another encounter with Armand, learning a bit more about his family history and following his investigation, however, I found previous books a little more mysterious and, yes, interesting... Taking a little break from the series, but I'll continue reading the series.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie had been holidaying at the Manoir Bellechasse for many years, and this latest visit would be to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The large group also at the Manoir, and having a family reunion were not a nice bunch of people, but Armand and Reine-Marie did their best to stay out of their way.

Until the night of a violent storm when the aftermath uncovered a dead body. Immediately Armand became the Chief Inspector, calling in his team of investigators and setting forth to discover the answers. But the strangeness – the impossibleness – of it had him baffled. And the Chief Inspector wasn’t one to be baffled. Would he get the results he wanted?

A Rule Against Murder is #4 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny, and another enjoyable read, although quite different to the first three. The small village of Three Pines didn’t feature as much as in previous episodes, with the investigation almost solely in and around the Manoir and the people involved. The Chief Inspector is a thoroughly likeable character, and I enjoyed getting to know Reine-Marie more than I had previously as well. Recommended.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCERPT: ... there was something unnatural about the Manoir Bellechasse from the very beginning. It was staggeringly beautiful, the stripped logs golden and glowing. It was made of wood and wattle and sat right at the water's edge. It commanded Lake Massawippi, as the Robber Barons commanded everything. These captains of industry couldn't seem to help it.

And once a year, men with names like Andrew and Douglas and Charles would leave their rail and whiskey empires, trade their spats for chewed leather moccasins and trek by canoe to the lodge on the shore of the isolated lake. They'd grown weary of robbery and needed another distraction.

TheManoir Bellechasse was created and conceived to allow these men to do one thing. Kill.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: "What happened here last night isn't allowed," said Madame Dubois.
It was such an extraordinary thing to say it stopped the ravenous Inspector Beauvoir from taking another bite of his roast beef on baguette.
"You have a rule against murder?" he asked.
"I do. When my husband and I bought the Bellechasse we made a pact....Everything that stepped foot on this land would be safe."

It is the height of summer, and Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. But they're not alone. The Finney family—rich, cultured, and respectable—has also arrived for a celebration of their own.
The beautiful Manoir Bellechasse might be surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the family reunion, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. It is up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth secrets long buried and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines, into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax.

MY THOUGHTS: Louise Penny's murders are always just a little 'off the wall', and the murder in A Rule Against Murder is no exception. There is nothing so mundane as a shooting or stabbing for Chief Inspector Gamache to solve, and while it seems impossible for the death to have been murder, it is also equally impossible for it to have been accidental. And why? Why this particular member of a mainly obnoxious family?

I think that is really what I love most about Penny's writing; she takes the unusual and crafts it into a compelling mystery peppered with well crafted, totally believeable characters. And while we may love to dislike the detestable (with the exception of Bean) Morrow-Finney clan, they are all instantly recognisable as people we know or know of. Penny creates interesting dynamics in this family who reluctantly gather each year for a reunion at their wealthy and autocratic mother’s behest, who have no contact with each other at any other time, and who are waiting only for their mother to die so as to collect their inheritance.

Of all the books in the series that I have read so far, this is my favorite.

I listened to A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny, narrated by Adam Sims and published by Hachette Audio UK via OverDrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Enjoyable Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery



Book Four of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series, "A Rule Against Murder", unlike the previous books, is not set in the picturesque Quebecois village of Three Pines (although the protagonists do pay Three Pines a visit).

Instead, most of the action occurs at the Manoir Bellechasse, a luxurious and remote Quebec Inn (patterned on the real Hovey Manor).

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the homicide division of the Montreal Surete and his wife, Reine-Marie, are on vacation. They go to Manoir Bellechasse every year to celebrate their anniversary. This year is their thirty-fifth.

The Gamaches are sharing the inn with the wealthy and toxic Finney family, who have their annual family reunion at Manoir Bellechasse.

It turns out that Peter Morrow, Gamache's artist buddy from Three Pines, is a reluctant member of the Finney tribe. He and his wife Clara are at Manoir Bellechasse for the family reunion. Clara can't wait to get away from the Finneys. She doesn't like them, although she adores her husband Peter.

The Gamaches' idyllic and relaxing retreat at Manoir Bellechasse is interrupted by--what else?--a suspicious death.

The body of the beautiful Julia Martin, one of the Morrow sisters, turns up on the grounds of Manoir Bellechasse, next to the newly installed statue which is a memorial to the late Charles Morrow, Julia's estranged father. Julia was alive the previous evening. She is in the middle of a divorce. Her ex-husband David Martin is in prison because of his shady financial dealings.

A police investigation proceeds. Gamache's usual subordinates show up--Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle LaCoste.

There are many suspects, as the Finney/Morrow family is a seething cauldron of resentment, hostility, dysfunction, and possibly even insanity, hidden under a polite veneer.

The staff is also under suspicion.

We learn a lot more about Peter Morrow, including his well hidden dark side.

Other players/suspects include the following people.

Irene Finney is the family matriarch. She enjoys employing the nasty verbal barb to wound people. Charles Morrow is her dead first husband. She is now married to Bert Finney, a life long friend and employee of Charles.

Peter's siblings (who call him "Spot") include the fat, unattractive, and apparently flaky Marianna Morrow (nicknamed "Megillah" by family members), who has a beautiful child of indeterminate sex. The child's name is Bean. There is also the resentful and arrogant Thomas Morrow. Thomas is married to Sandra Morrow, who is always complaining to the hotel staff. Thomas (and everyone else) usually ignore Sandra. Sandra makes herself obnoxious to get the attention she craves.

The hotel staff includes Madame Dubois, the elegant elderly proprietor; Chef Veronique, a large woman who is a world class chef; Pierre Patenaude, the maitre d'hotel; Eliot, an insolent and handsome young waiter; and Colleen, a young gardener.

I guessed who the murderer was (although I wasn't sure, since there were many possible suspects), but not how and why the perpetrator committed the crime.

I did enjoy the book, but I find that after a few books many of these series become somewhat repetitive. I think I'm going to take a break from this series for a long while.

Ralph Cosham does his usual wonderful job of reading the audio. His understated style is very suitable for this material.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm mad at Louise Penny because of book #5 in the Three Pines/Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries, and I want to take it out on her now, but in fairness I just can't. I loved this book as much as I expected to. I thought that moving the action out of Three Pines would make me grumpy, but instead it made me feel, more than ever, that I want to live in Three Pines because Manoir Bellechasse is close for those times I need to get away from the hectic hustle and bustle of Three Pines (snort).

The Gamaches seem so at home in the splendid, isolated Manoir, with its beautiful robber-baron-era main building and its spectacular lake. The murder this time is one I was saddened by; the murderer was one I felt so strongly about that I hollered at the pages, "Don't do it!" in the vain hope I could alter the course of the action.

I couldn't.

Damn.

But the real surprise here is the Morrows...Peter and Clara Morrow show up at the Manoir to be at a special family reunion of Peter's horrid family. I know families like this exist. I belong to one. But it's really distasteful to watch the Morrow clan in action. I suppose if my family still had money, we'd behave pretty much exactly like the Morrows, and I mean exactly, down to every detail of the action. Recessions, divorces, and bad business decisions be praised!

I like Clara a little less now; I like Peter almost not at all; and the Gamaches are aces in my book, though I suspect that Armand would wear on me if he's really like he was at the very, very end of this book...a little too perfect. And I still could not WAIT to get to book five! I was panting for it!

Bah. Humbug.

[Tooter · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

[Paula K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louise Penny is a master in the murder mystery genre. A Rule Against Murder, the fourth in her Chief Inspector Gamache series, takes us places in the minds of her characters like no other writer out there.

The setting for this book is different from her usual Three Pines. The Gamaches are at a resort in the wilderness celebrating their anniversary. Here we get to meet the Finneys for a family reunion, and an interesting one at that. We meet a family full of abuse and cruelty for themselves and everyone around them. Interestingly, Peter and Clara Morrow of Three Pines are part of this family.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook narrated by Ralph Cosham. Penny does so well at mixing crime and the beauty of the surroundings.

Highly recommend this book and the series.

5 out of 5 stars..

[Margitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chief Inspector Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie, are celebrating their thirty-five-year wedding anniversary by staying at Manoir Bellechasse for a few days. The rich, cultured, respectable Finney family, an old- or no money family, living in a meritocracy, graces their presence in this remote auberge. One of the family's members desrcibes the family as “seven mad Morrows in a verchère”. The matriarch was now a Finney, but was actually still a Marrow in many ways. So much so, that she wanted a statue erected for her late husband Charles, who passed away eighteen years before. To the Gamache's big surprise, they encounter two of their old friends of Three Pines, Peter and Clara Morrow, there as part of the Finney family reunion. Their annual reunion served no real purpose apart from honoring the matriarch's wishes to see her estranged children once a year.

Morrows lie, and Morrows keep secrets. It’s our currency., says one of the members, and before long, it is confirmed when one of the members is killed.

The problem in solving the case, is that the family lives in their own world, refusing reality to enter. Their animosity towards each other, and their disconnection from people who do not belong in their social circles is like a madness, caused often in abused people, especially children. By disconnecting from their own truth, is not only the sanest thing to do under their circumstances, it is also the only way they could survive their own memories.

The owner, staff and guests of Manoir Bellechasse, including Chief Inspector Gamache, are suddenly confronted with their own secrets and childhood memories.‘To have it all and to lose it. That’s what this case was about, says Armand Gamache.’

While the holiday started out in a place so beautiful, nature had to break it into two with a mirror image on the lake of the mountains and the beautiful surroundings celebrating summer, Inspector Gamache had no other choice but to call in his famous team again.

Inspector Beauvoir, the alpha dog in the team, the whip-smart, tightly wound second in command who believed in the triumph of facts over feelings, is not excited to be there at all.

He is trying to ignore the mosquitoes and blackflies and no-see-’ems. At least in Montreal you see what’s coming at you. Cars. Trucks. Kids jonesing on crack. Big things. Out here everything’s hidden, everything’s hiding. Tiny bloodsucking bugs, spiders and snakes and animals in the forests, rotten wiring behind walls made from tree trunks for God’s sake. It was like trying to conduct a modern murder investigation in Fred Flintstone’s cave.

Where Gamache sees peace and quiet and beauty, Inspector Beauvoir sees hell. He sees chaos and discomfort and bugs. Both are true.

Agent Lacoste is the hunter, the observer, the quiet, stealthy listener.

Armand Gamache was the explorer. He went ahead of all the rest, into territory unknown and uncharted. He was drawn to the edge of things. To the places old mariners knew, and warned, ‘Beyond here be monsters.’ That’s where Chief Inspector Gamache could be found. He stepped into the beyond, and found the monsters hidden deep inside all the reasonable, gentle, laughing people. He went where even they were afraid to go. Armand Gamache followed slimy trails, deep into a person’s psyche, and there, huddled and barely human, he found the
murderer.

The murder investigation becomes a journey through history, memories, broken relationships, bitter sibling rivalry, childhood hardships and buried secrets. While it ends with sorrow and sadness, the final item is revealed when the Pandora's box is opened at last.

Ninety-five-year-old Mr. Finney summarizes the events and revelations by saying:

‘You know what money buys?’ Gamache shook his head. ‘I’m an accountant and I’ve spent a lifetime counting money and watching the people who have it. Do you know what I’ve decided? The only thing money really buys?’
Gamache waited. ‘Space.’
‘Space?’ Gamache repeated.
‘A bigger house, a bigger car, a larger hotel room. First class plane tickets. But it doesn’t even buy comfort. No one complains more than the rich and entitled. Comfort, security, ease. None of that comes with money.’

A thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery with many, intriguing, layers of human experiences intertwined. Once again there is passion, compassion, unresolved feelings, secrets and magic buried in this addictive word-castle of a brilliant author.

Mmm... voice like a root vegetable ... has anyone ever heard that voice? I have my ear on the ground for that one, for sure!

While Chief Inspector Armand Gamache saved lives and sanity and a family, this author saved my sanity with this wonderful, entertaining murder mystery.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completed my first fiction book of the year and it comes as little surprise that it is a mystery. Over the past year my long time mystery series writers Faye Kellerman and Sara Paretsky have either completed or wound down on their series. I had been in search of a new series and found Still Life in my parents bag of paperbacks that they had brought on our shared vacation. If one could transport Hercule Poirot to 21st century Quebec, one would end up with Armand Gamache. Maybe it’s not that simple but with an older, French speaking detective who dissects cases and figures out the how and why to murder before most of his team, I fell in love with Gamache right away. My life is still busy and I still read mysteries in between other books to clear my head, so Louise Penny has become my new go to mystery series writer. And so I return to Three Pines once again.

Armande Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary as they do every year, with a week at the Manoir Bellechasse. The scenery is breathtaking and the food is impeccable and the Gamaches appear to be enjoying their week away from the stress that comes with being the Chief Inspector of homicide of Montreal’s Surete. That is until murder occurs on the grounds. The other guests at the manoir are none other than Peter and Clara Morrow of Three Pines and Peter’s extended family who are supposed to be “enjoying” a family reunion. The Morrows detest these gatherings because Peter’s family is the most dysfunctional one can find, and the murder of their sister/daughter bring out the very worst of their behaviors. Somehow just as murder always seems to find Hercule Poirot, it finds Armand Gamache as well. So much for a luxurious vacation.

Penny sets the stage for the investigation by keeping Gamache’s professional and private lives separate. Even though Reine-Marie is of an intellectual mind, she has never once participated in one of Armand’s cases. She is sent to visit Three Pines until the case is solved, and so she reluctantly leaves her husband’s side and his scent of rose water and cedar wood. From descriptions like these, it is of little surprise to me that a member of one of my book clubs has called Gamache her fictional husband. I’m sure Reine Marie will have something to say about it, but it speaks volumes of their relationship in that she trusts him to solve all of his cases and that he will return to her once they are completed. As a result the reader gets to experience Three Pines in this case even if it seemed that the town would not be a focal point; yet, it is focal, including Canada Day Celebration in Three Pines style.

As in the other three installments, Gamache is assisted by his team of Jean Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle LaCoste. I am beginning to get a feel for these characters and how they know their roles within Gamache’s team, and Penny has fleshed out their characters well that every new development comes with ah-ha moments. In this fourth case readers find out more about Gamache’s background information and why he chose to work in homicide. We find out about his parents and his father Honore’s position during World War II, setting the stage for what other readers have told me is that Penny does not stray away from political upheaval in her books. One finds out here that Gamache was raised by his adoptive grandmother who was a Holocaust survivor, making him compassion toward people of all walks of life. This reveals much of his character and makes me love the author that much more. Of course, there are always multiple sides to every story, and these are revealed in talks between Gamache and Bert Finney, Peter Morrow’s stepfather, who knew Honore Gamache well. As a history and political junkie, this gets me more excited for the duration of the series if indeed politics plays a large role in it.

Is was the case in the previous three books, Gamache wraps up his investigation with a number of twists and turns along the way. The cast of characters of Three Pines make cameo appearances, and the Gamache’s appear to have salvaged some of their anniversary celebration. Although there are now eighteen books in this series and I have only read four, this is a well crafted series that I would like to savor, even if means bimonthly reads that take me a few years to catch up to. I can wait. People have compared Penny to Christie and Gamache to Poirot, myself include. If that is the case, I have a well crafted, multi layered, suspenseful series to look forward to in the long haul.

🇨🇦 4 stars 🇨🇦

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the wonderful things about a Louise Penny novel is that it is not just a whodunit. The reader needs to figure out how it was done ... as are Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team. In A Fatal Grace the victim was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village. In The Cruelest Month the victim dies during a séance. The author delivers another murder most unusual in this story.

Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. Each year they return to the manor to celebrate their wedding anniversary on July 1, Canada Day. This year though their holiday is not the peaceful celebratory getaway they had hoped for. The Finney family—rich and dysfunctional —has also arrived for a family reunion. This reunion will be different – the family is installing a statue of the patriarch Charles Morrow on the grounds of the resort. The morning after the installation and dedication of the statue it is found toppled on daughter Julia ... with her arms open as though to embrace her father. A statue that weighed tons and was mounted on a pedestal. How did it happen?

In addition to Julia, recently divorced and whose ex-husband is in prison for stock fraud, the other members of the Finney family include a distant elderly mother and stepfather; Thomas and Sandra, a son and daughter-in-law who are equal parts obnoxiousness and meanness; Marianna, an unmarried daughter with a 10-year-old child named Bean. A fourth sibling and his wife, whom they refer to as Spot and Claire turn out to be Peter and Clara Morrow, the Gamaches’ artist friends from Three Pines.

In each of the novels in this series we learn more about the characters. In this story we learn about Peter Morrow and his family. We also learn about Armand Gamache's father. What we learn is informative and surprising. It helps explain the men they are today. I must admit that, having read earlier novels, Peter Morrow was not my favorite Three Pines resident. After reading this novel and learning about the family he grew up in I am somewhat understanding and sympathetic.

After I read a Armand Gamache novel I find myself thinking I would like to meet him (if he was real), I would like to visit Three Pines and after this novel avoid family reunions.

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a body is discovered near a retreat in the woods, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache happens to be staying at the Manoir Bellechasse, the lodge, with his lovely wife, Reine-Marie. Now, their peaceful get-away has devolved into a murder investigation. Someone at the hotel is a killer.

Can Gamache figure out who before it's too late?

"But just as their waffles arrived they heard a faraway sound, something so unexpected it took Gamache a moment to recognize it. It was a scream." pg 84

As delightful as this entry is in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, I had trouble getting into the story. It has Louise Penny's usual eccentric characters and thoughtful insights into universal emotions like love and despair.

And, as usual, I guessed completely wrong on the resolution and enjoyed the nail-biting conclusion.

"His team had a near perfect record, and they did it by sorting facts from fancy from wishful thinking. They did it by collecting clues and evidence. And emotions." pg 95

I think what I was missing from the mystery was the setting of Three Pines itself. Honestly, it was nice to branch out a little and see many of Penny's beloved characters in a different place, but Three Pines is so delightful that I missed it.

To be fair, it does make a bit of a cameo with a village festival, but it wasn't the same. The irascable poet, Ruth Zardo, is almost completely absent, except for a one-liner, and I missed her. I'm also inordinately fond of the bed and breakfast owners, Oliver and Gabri. But we didn't see much of them because the action was taking place at a different hotel.

Here's hoping the next book takes place back in Three Pines. I'd still recommend this one to readers who love cozy mysteries. Louise Penny has a gift for writing them.

[Carol]

Seems I've never wrote a review about the 4th in Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Oh well, there's plenty of other reviews. I do remember liking it as Three Pines is like coming home.

[Susan Meissner · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with an Inspector Gamache mystery. Loved this quote near the end, after one character tells Inspector Gamache that each of us is blessed, each of us is blighted: "Every day each of us does our sums. The question is, what do we count?' Such wisdom there...

[Kylie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 4 in the Armand Gamache series and once again a great mystery.
It is a bit disappointing that the village of Three Pines is on the periphery of this book, but on the other hand we learn more about the Chief Inspector Gamache and his past, as well as Peter Morrow who I have never really taken to.
This story is set in a quiet retreat, an exclusive manor in the Canadian wilderness. Gamache and his wife are there to celebrate their wedding anniversary. However the descent of the 'Finney's' who have booked out the rest of the Manoir Bellechasse threatens to ruin the bonhomie of the place.
Witty, sad and vicious too, once again Louise Penny creates a marvellously rich group of characters.
Another lovely chapter is this wonderful series.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

You may be thinking, "Why are you reading this when you didn't like books 2 or 3 in this series and had basically given up on it?" A good question. The answer is I needed an audiobook for the plane, mostly, and this was available now from the library. But also people continue to stick up for this series and say it gets better. And also it has been bothering me, like one of those little itches in the back of your brain that detectives get in mysteries, that I haven't been able to pin down what is wrong with these books.

Well, the good news is that the mystery is solved. I have figured out why I do not like these books. I figured it out about 1/3 of the way in and after that I felt constantly validated until the end. Did it become a hate read? Yes it did. But it was a satisfying hate read because I kept getting more and more confirmation that I was right.

Are you ready for the solution? Okay. Here it is. These books are sanctimonious.

It isn't unusual to talk about morality or a moral code inherent in mystery novels or horror novels. There can be rules of what will get you killed and what will make you guilty of killing. But that is not what I am talking about here. In these novels, being the murderer is nowhere near the highest moral offense. It is middling at best. You can be the murderer and everyone can be like, "Yeah but we still like you." That happens here, even though the climax contains some pretty damn despicable actions, but on the very next page they are all forgotten and we will all sit down and have a chat and a cup of tea before we even arrest the person.

No, in these books there is a very specific moral code of Penny's own devising. Many of the characters are there specifically to demonstrate what it means to be a Bad Person. The Morrow family serves that purpose here, all of them being terrible to each other. And it would be one thing if they were all terrible and that was that, but instead our morally upright detectives must think to themselves about what Bad People they are and why. They will ponder their moral failings and lay it all out for us. It is like getting hit in the head with a hammer.

It is a very confusing moral code. Money is not bad, that is made clear, and yet it's only the rich people who are Bad. Two men, both fathers and both long dead, are presented to us as clear portraits. One of them found to be Good, he cared about love more than money, and yet everything we learn about this character is pretty awful! He does not sound good to me! He sounds pretty terrible actually and it's all quite confusing. The other father, Gamache's actually, is declared by many of the Bad characters to be bad, but of course we know he will turn out to be good actually. And sure enough he is. He was Bad, we learn, because he protested against a war, was a conscientious objector who worked with the Red Cross instead, and even Gamache admits that this was very bad. Again, I would disagree, he seems pretty good and has his own strong moral code, even if it's not one the other characters agree with exactly but they have no respect for it. Because in these books if you are Bad you don't get respect. That is why I liked the word "sanctinomious" so much. Because this book is so judge-y. There is practically venom on the page when certain characters appear. And, once again, she is really weird about characters' physical appearances, it's uncomfortable.

And then when we see Gamache, oh well, then it is all poetry and goodness. We will give Gamache exactly one small flaw which he will overcome before the end of the book, but only so that he is not completely perfect. He is Large, Commanding, and Gentle and those are the only words ever used to describe him. Everyone loves Gamache, this poetry-loving man, this kind police officer, this man who bears no resemblance to anything in reality. I suppose you could see it as a kind of fantasy, this police force that is not violent, that will let a killer sit and have a nice cup of tea, that will still treat him with respect and kindness. But I don't see it that way at all, enough of the real world seeps into these books that it is not fantastical at all.

You know what other author I kept being reminded of as I listened? JK Rowling. Her books also have this very strict moral code of people who are Good and people who are Bad and sometimes it's all fine because they are children's books and fantasy novels, except that it really doesn't work when she starts writing adult crime fiction. Also sometimes her moral code is rather bizarre, like when someone is Bad because they don't support slavery or they are trans. It is all kind of fine until it becomes extremely offputting and then once you've seen it it's impossible to un-see.

Anyway. I am officially calling it quits. No more Louise Penny. And I can do it with a clear conscience, knowing I am not missing anything and that these books are Not For Me.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, where the heroic and nearly perfect Gamache (modeled after Louise Penny’s adorable husband) is celebrating his anniversary with his lovely wife Reine-Marie at Manoir Bellechasse, an inn outside of Three Pines. The obnoxiously rich and entitled Finney family is also there:

“The first generation makes the money, the second appreciates it, having witnessed the sacrifice, and the third squanders it. We’re the third generation. The four of us. Our father hated us, thought we’d steal his money, ruin the family. He was so afraid of spoiling us he never gave us anything, except stupid advice. Words. That was all.”

Soon, we discover that the daughter is killed by the statue of her father; who dunnit?! Who cares? They ruined the idyllic Gamache party! And where is eccentric poet Ruth with her duck and Olivier’s bistro?! Let’s go back to Three Pines, please. Though because this is a Penny novel, it’s still food-centric, with amazing dishes you could only sample without gaining forty pounds.

Penny doesn’t write serial killer books, of course, with inscrutably mad slashers terrifying us. These are cozy, warm, lovely, well-fed stories with single malt Scotch and croissants/crepes/baguettes and so on where the mystery is just a small part of the inviting atmosphere. Charming world. Where the occasional murder does take place, sure. But it doesn't disrupt your feeling about the place; not yet, anyway. Murderers kill because of festering emotions, kept long alive out of spite/resentment. We need facts to solve crimes, but we need to get at emotions, primarily:

“What killed people wasn't a bullet, a blade, a fist to the face. What killed people was a feeling. Left too long. Sometimes in the cold, frozen. Sometimes buried and fetid. And sometimes on the shores of a lake, isolated. Left to grow old, and odd.”

Do I sound less than enthused? Oh, I like it, I like Gamache just fine, I'd like to have a Scotch with him, though I prefer deeply flawed detectives, typically, to merely charming ones. But I'm already reading the fifth one, and it is the best opening so far.

[Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wedding anniversary celebration for Armand and Reine-Marie and a family reunion at Manoir Bellechasse for the Morrow family bring Louise Penny's familiar characters back to beautiful Three Pines and along with the characters comes a murder.

The Morrow family is known to not have much love for each other. When a marble statue is brought into the pristine landscape, questions are raised about why it is there. A thunderstorm brings a tragic surprise to mar the statue's meaning.

A RULE AGAINST MURDER is another well-written book with Louise Penny's beautiful, detailed writing that puts you right into the book and the scenes. You can feel yourself swimming in the lake, walking through the gardens, enjoying the evening chats, indulging in the delicious meals, and being drawn into the tension and murder investigation.

We follow Armand as he investigates the murder of Julia Morrow and find things out about the Morrow family.

A RULE AGAINST MURDER has a title that is significant to the owners of Manoir Bellechasse. They say there is a rule against murder in their place of business...no hunting or anything to do with death. This murder was very upsetting to them as well as the guests and family members.

This is an earlier book of Louise Penny, but no matter what book it is, you are never disappointed with her story line and exquisite writing style.

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mystery was perhaps not as interesting as in previous books in this series but that is completely overshadowed by getting to see the inner workings of Peter Morrow's family. I always thought he had some underlying issues with how jealous he could be of his wonderful wife Clara so this book explains a lot! Getting to learn more about Armand Gamache's family is a pleasant bonus. Love this series.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been hooked on Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series since I read her debut novel, Still Life. Yet, as great as the novels have been, A Rule Against Murder still somehow manages to top all of the previous ones.

As ever, Penny plots out an interesting murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. However, what truly will delight the reader are the secrets revealed about Peter Morrow's well-to-do family and one about Armand Gamache himself. The theme of when to remember -- and when to forget -- the past proves fascinating.

I'm looking forward to reading the fifth book in this series, The Brutal Telling. But not yet. I want to savor this one just a little bit longer. After all, how could even the talented Ms. Penny improve on A Rule Against Murder?

One side note: The lovely resort in the novel, Manoir Bellechasse, is loosely based on the Manoir Hovey, a favorite with Louise Penny. With this novel, Manoir Hovey should prepare itself for an influx of guests who've read about the fictional Manoir Bellechasse and want to experience the real one.