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"The
Brutal Telling" by
Louise Penny
; Minotaur (372 pages,
$24.99
)
———
Canadian
author
Louise Penny's
gentle series about insightful Chief Inspector
Armand Gamache
continues to be an homage to the traditional mysteries
of
Agatha Christie
as well as a riff on those novels.
Penny
continues her high standards in this fifth installment.
"The Brutal Telling" is laden with dry wit, an
involving plot and detailed perspectives about the human
condition. Penny knows that mysteries set in quaint
little villages run the risk of succumbing to Christie's
St. Mary Mead syndrome — an unrealistic amount of
crime for such a small place.
But Penny
uses the limited surroundings — in this case the
Quebec
village of Three Pines — to her advantage while poking
fun at this genre tenet. "Three Pines had no police
force, no traffic lights, no sidewalks ... The place
didn't even have crime. Except murder. The only criminal
thing that ever happened in this village was the worst
possible crime."
The
disarmingly charming Gamache is again called to Three
Pines when the body of a stranger turns up in the
successful bistro run by the popular
Oliver Brule
. That no one had seen the man, even passing through, is
odd for Three Pines. What's even odder is that the body
had been moved at least twice. Gamache and his savvy
team's instincts lead to a cabin in the woods where the
stranger lived for years undetected except for visits
from someone who regularly brought supplies. Gamache's
investigation leads to the past of some of Three Pines'
most prominent residents.
"The
Brutal Telling" has frequent laugh-out loud
passages coupled with realistic plot twists. Penny
avoids loading Three Pines with eccentric residents.
Even when a few characters are over the top, the author
supplies a veneer of believability such as a
cantankerous poet who keeps a pet duck, husband and wife
artists jealous of each other's talents and a couple
renovating an old home into spa.
While
Penny puts Gamache at the center of "The Brutal
Telling," she also uses an ensemble cast of
characters. Each of Gamache's team is thoughtfully
shaped as individuals. And many of Three Pines residents
show signs of sticking around for upcoming novels — we
hope.
The
award-winning Penny again shows her skillful
storytelling in "The Brutal Telling."
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