the nature of the beast
synopsis
Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn’t cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village.
But when the boy disappears the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true.
And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet.
And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here.
A monster once visited Three Pines. And put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back.
Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.
'...a mystery with global scope and consequences…. What makes this story most magical...is the perfect reminder of the dark side of human nature, but that side does not always win out. Penny is an expert at pulling away the surface of her characters to expose their deeper—and often ugly—layers, always doing so with a direct but compassionate hand.'
'.... A strong sense of place, a multilayered plot, and well-crafted (and for Penny's fans, familiar) characters combine for a thoughtful, intriguing tale. More than a simple mystery, Penny's novel peels away the emotional and psychological layers of the inhabitants of Three Pines..'
'The bucolic Quebec village of Three Pines again proves no refuge in Penny's stellar 11th Armand Gamache novel…. Gamache has settled in the small community after retiring from the Sûreté, where he worked as a homicide detective. But he's drawn back to the hunt after Laurent Lepage, a nine-year-old boy with a penchant for crying wolf, is found dead under circumstances that Gamache finds suspicious…. Series fans will delight in Penny's continued complex fleshing out of characters they have come to love..'
'Louise Penny is unsurpassed at building a sense of heart-stopping urgency. Sometimes the stakes are personal…Sometimes the threat is to the village…This time Penny manages to create a threat that could truly be worldwide, and to place its future in the hands of our friends in Three Pines. Attention, fans who have been waiting for poet Ruth Zardo's backstory: Here's at least part of your wish granted.'
'…a compelling mystery that leads to an exciting but tantalizingly open-ended finale.'
'In this, the 11th title in the series, Penny sustains her high-wire act, creating characters of remarkable depth in an exhilarating whodunit.'
"…Louise Penny has crafted an immensely rich and satisfying traditional mystery world, tipping the hat to Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey and PD James, but with her own distinctive recipe: complex characters far removed from village stereotypes, ingenious plots, and a captivating lead detective in Gamache."
'….atmospheric and deeply humane…'
'…. a gripping plot, rich characterizations, arresting prose and thought-provoking questions of mercy, malice and the contradictions of the human race.'
"The next book in Louise Penny's much-loved Chief Inspector Gamache series does not disappoint. When a little boy who constantly tells tall tales disappears from his Quebec village, the community is forced to reexamine his supposed stories. With the help of former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, Armand Gamache, the investigation and the frantic search for him begins. As they embark on their quest for the truth, they quickly down the rabbit hole, beginning a sequence of events that leads to answers they never dreamed were possible."
"Louise Penny is unsurpassed at building a sense of heart-stopping urgency."
"A complex mystery..."
"A world of dark truth lies under the surface. One of the wonders of 'The Nature of the Beast' is how subtly and relentlessly the author mines that darkness, and how surely her detective steps through it, without once losing his cool."
"It's always a delight to spend time with the village denizens, whose levels of compassion, sarcasm and loyalty never waver. Grade: A-."
"A writer with wit and style who stands out from the crime fiction crowd."
"MODUS OPERANDI: All about morals as well as murder."
"The author of 10 best-selling books featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache infuses her mysteries with the beauty, culture and mouthwatering cuisine of Quebec."
"A fascinating and complex plot… The plot and its implications are indeed serious, but Ms. Penny tells her story with a light-handed deftness that allows events to move swiftly."
"Louise Penny is back at full strength... Three Pines in her skillful hands becomes a literary pageant and the secret of its charm is its simplicity."
"A fine plot… this beast has teeth."
"Penny has created eleven different mystery novels and one novella, many of them bestsellers, that weave together the excitement of classic whodunits with the pleasure of small town life."
"Evil, from both outside and inside the village, is always a presence, and the struggle to resist it gives the novels gravity and a sense of suspense… Penny crafts her mystery carefully... She knows how to shape a novel for both readers new to the series and regulars… Penny has shaped a world in which the characters are constantly evolving, reacting to violence but also to love and connection. Elements of that world might be predictable, even comfortable, but enough remains outside its control to make it worth entering again and again, for both its stability and its surprises."
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST was nominated for two prestigious Anthony awards in the US. For Best Crime Novel and for Best Audio.
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST was nominated for an Agatha Award in the US for Best Crime Novel
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST won Best World Mystery, given out at Left Coast Crime.
The Audio Publishers Association was nominated Robert Bathurst and THE NATURE OF THE BEAST for an Audie Award, for Best Mystery.
The Independent Booksellers Association named it a Must Read IndieNext pick
People Magazine named THE NATURE OF THE BEAST as Best Book of the Week
The Library Association named it an August LibraryReads
The US television talk show The View named it a Great Fall Read
iBooks - named THE NATURE OF THE BEAST as Best of September
THE NATURE OF THE BEASTwas selected by Amazon as a Book of the Month for September 2015
The Boston Globe chose The Nature of the Beast as their Book of the Week
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST was an Indie Next Pick for September
The Reading Room book blog also highlighted THE NATURE OF THE BEAST as one of their favorite reads of 2015
