The Cruelest Month
synopsis
Easter in Three Pines is a time of church services, egg hunts and seances to raise the dead.
A group of friends trudges up to the Old Hadley House, the horror on the hill, to finally rid it of the evil spirits that have so obviously plagued it, and the village, for decades. But instead of freeing a spirit, they create a new one. One of their numbers dies of fright. Or was it murder? Enter Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team from the Surete du Quebec. As they peel back the layers of flilth and artiface that have covered the haunted old home, they discover the evil isn’t confined there. Some evil is guiding the actions of one of the seemingly kindly villagers.
But Gamache has a horror all his own to confront. A very personal demon is about to strike.
Easter in Three Pines. A time of rebirth, when nature comes alive. But something very unpleasant has also come alive. And it become clear – for there to be a rebirth, there first must be a death.
Agatha Award for Best Traditional Mystery, 2008 (USA)
Debuted as #1 on the IMBA Bestsellers list in the USA
Finalist Anthony Award for Best Mystery, 2008 (USA)
Finalist Macavity Award for Best Mystery, 2008 (USA)
Finalist Barry Award for Best Mystery, 2008 (USA)
Finalist Arthur Ellis Award for Best Mystery, 2008 (Canada)
If I thought for one minute this place really existed, I would be packing the car. As it was, on finishing "The Cruelest Month," I grabbed the first two books, "Still Life" and "A Fatal Grace," and spent a lovely weekend in the village. The mouthwatering food, the beautiful gardens, the quirky and literate villagers -- Three Pines is a charming oasis for the spirit....it's more about the journey than the destination in these wonderful books full of poetry, and weather, and a brooding manor house, and people who read and think and laugh and eat a lot of really excellent food. Move over, Mitford.
Chief Insp. Armand Gamache and his team investigate another bizarre crime in the tiny Québec village of Three Pines in Penny's expertly plotted third cozy…Arthur Ellis Award-winner Penny paints a vivid picture of the French-Canadian village, its inhabitants and a determined detective who will strike many Agatha Christie fans as a 21st-century version of Hercule Poirot.
Gamache is an engaging, modern-day Poirot who gently teases out information from his suspects while enjoying marvelous bistro meals and cozy walks on the village common…Penny is an award-winning writer whose cozies go beyond traditional boundaries, providing entertaining characters, a picturesque locale, and thought-provoking plots. Highly recommended.
Perhaps the deftest talent to arrive since Minette Walters, Penny produces what many have tried but few have mastered: a psychologically acute cozy. If you don't give your heart to Gamache, you may have no heart to give.
Penny shines most in revealing Gamache's frailties....As Penny demonstrates with laser-like precision, the book's title is a metaphor not only for the month of April but also for Gamache's personal and professional challenges - making this the series standout so far.
Impossible to put down!
There's real pleasure here.
Penny's real skill is creating a dense, possibilities rich atmosphere....Impressive writing
Influenced by Simenon, Christie and Sayers before her, Penny is doing them all one better. ... These books are so much more than traditional mysteries—the writing is sublime and the characters unique yet much more developed than their individual quirks. ...And this place, this wonderous, fantastical place. You’re just incredibly thankful that it exists, if only in the brilliant mind of Louise Penny....behold the ushering in of a new era of traditional mysteries—21st century-style.
For such a small, pleasant place, the Quebec village of Three Pines has a surprising amount of big-time crime. In the third Armand Gamache novel, the Surete Chief Inspector is once again confronted with a baffling mystery, this one coming after an Easter séance results in murder. The thing about the Gamache novels is that while the crimes are intriguing, the people are downright fascinating not just Gamache himself, who manages to be completely original despite his similarities to Columbo and Poirot, but also the entire cast of supporting characters, who are so strongly written that every single one of them could probably carry an entire novel all by themselves. Readers familiar with the preceding two novels in the series Still Life (2006) and A Fatal Grace (2007) will be champing at the bit to get their hands on this one, and those who haven’t yet met Armand Gamache will wonder what took them so long.
Penny...has created a world that is clever, complex and gorgeously written.
A neat mystery!
Just the thing for a gloomy Autumn day...the enjoyment of a stirring tale of jealousy and long-awaited revenge.
With the publication of The Cruellest Month, Louise Penny has come of age as a novelist. The writing is sensual, full of sights and smells and tastes that will resonate with her readers. And although Penny paints an almost Grandma Moses idealized view of village life, it is a view tinged with ominous foreboding, reminiscent of the brooding images of Breughel and Bosch....It's a gem.
Readers on the lookout for a good crime writer are in for a treat...Penny's writing is rich in imagery and atmosphere and characterised by a very quick and highly verbal intelligence.
