a world of curiosities
synopsis
It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.
But something has.
As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.
But to what end?
Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?
As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.
As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.
In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home.
A World Of Curiosities won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel In the United States.
"The plotting is complex and the characters as vivid as ever, but the opportunity to watch Gamache and Beauvoir's relationship develop is what makes this one of Penny's best... will have you turning the pages as fast as you can to see how she'll manage to tie everything together."
"For Penny, the novel is a narrative tour de force, drawing brilliantly on some dark moments in Québec history and leading Gamache and the residents of Three Pines to a hard-won, thoroughly unsentimental recognition that forgiveness is our most powerful magic.”
" Virtuoso… blends nuanced characterization with nail-biting suspense…This tale of forgiveness and redemption will resonate with many."
"Penny's 18th Gamache novel is intense as the detective digs deep into his own fears. The darkness in this intricately plotted story forces readers to search for contrasting moments of hope."
"Another superb achievement… Penny weaves together all these narratives - the series of modern-day killings, the decade-old bludgeoning murder and the haunting artwork that has remained shrouded in mystery across the centuries - with a master's deft hand."
"One of the series' best... Penny pulls off the narrative’s uncharacteristically epic scope without a hitch, swapping fair-play puzzles for pulse-pounding cliffhangers without sacrificing intimate character moments. Gamache’s fans will be eager for his next adventure."
"The story is complex and intense, and, as always, artfully constructed and lyrically delivered."
"Simply outstanding… Penny's gift for intelligent and transcendent storytelling delivers light, bringing themes of forgiveness and redemption to society's darker moments."
"Penny delves into the nature of evil, sensitively exploring the impact of the dreadful events she describes while bringing a warmth and humanity to her disparate cast of characters that, unusually for a crime novel, leaves you feeling better about the world once you've finished."
"Extraordinary...It is "a tale of demons and witches, hidden rooms and unexpected saviours", "the folly of assumptions" and the nature of trust and forgiveness. Louise Penny can turn the most clichéd of scenes - informing relatives of a death - into electrifying drama…reminiscent of Thomas Harris at his finest. Gamache is a fascinatingly complex protagonist; we'll see a version of him in the Amazon Prime series Three Pines, scheduled for December. A World of Curiosities is his 18th case, and one of her very best."
