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The interspersion of literary quotes and poems adds so much to the book. They may inject humor, but they may also connote other emotions, melancholy, sorrow, or a warning. It’s not unusual for the reader to spend time looking up the source material for some of the quotes. Going to the past can be painful and dangerous. It is there where Chief Inspector Gamache and Agent Jean-Guy Beauvoir first meet during the case of two children so emotionally damaged they may have murdered their own mother, Clotilde Arsenault. The older sister, Fiona, is sent to prison, while the brother, Sam, is deemed too young to be tried. Returning to the present, Gamache and his wife, Raine-Marie, take in a now-released Fiona and facilitated her enrollment in the École Polytechnique, from which she is now graduating along with Harriet, bookshop owner and ex-psychologist, Myrna Lander. Natalie Provost, a survivor of the Montreal Massacre where 14 were killed and 13 were wounded, all women, is receiving a special award. Sam showing up at the graduation and is planning to stay in Three Pines, is an unwelcome surprise to Gamache, who never trusted the young man. 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.” —The Guardian
The early books each featured a murder case that was solved within the book but there was also a storyline that ran across several titles. This dealt with the Chief’s suspicions of a conspiracy within the heart of the Sûreté.
Excerpt
a b c Cannon, Margaret (2023-01-13). "Review: Five mystery books to start the year with a thrill". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 2023-03-26. In remembrance of the murdered female engineers and the recognition of the resilience of the survivors, Gamache and Reine-Marie attend the latest ceremony where Fiona herself graduates, she has been supported by Gamache through the years and lives in his home. He is unsettled and disturbed when Sam attends and is planning to stay at Three Pines, the troubling Sam is one of only two people who have been able to get inside his head, the other is imprisoned psychopath and monstrous serial killer, John Fleming. A strange historical letter written by a long dead stone mason leads to the discovery of a hidden walled in attic that is opened up by the villagers, within it is a long sought after grimoire and a odd version of the famous painting, The Paston Treasure, with its world of curiosities. The painting has a multitude of worrying hidden messages and puzzles that alarm and alert Gamache to an old foe intent on destroying everything and everyone Gamache holds dear.
One is Harriet Landers, the niece of Myrna Landers, who owns the bookstore in Three Pines and is a close friend of the Gamaches. The other is Fiona Arsenault, whom they have helped in the years after her mother’s murder. In a separate plot thread, Gamache is called upon to solve the mystery of a secret room discovered in the attic of the village bookstore. Inside, the villagers discover a long lost copy of a “grimoire” an old book thought to have been used by witches to summon demons. Nearby is a huge painting. As ever, my real interest in this novel is what lies beyond the plot and the characterisation. Louise Penny frequently introduces a key theme into her narrative to explore the darker side of human nature or to shine a light on a contemporary issue. In the past we’ve had jealousy, euthanasia, police corruption, prescription drug addiction and PTSD. The objects were collected by Sir Robert and Sir William who made acquisitions on a long journey travelling through Europe and on to Cairo and Jerusalem. The collection consisted of over 200 objects and included many natural curiosities made into decorative art objects, such as mounted seashells and ostrich eggs. The painting was unknown for centuries, and before it was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum in 1947, its last owner warned that it was "very faded, of no artistic value, only curious from an archaeological point of view." [4] It is now on display, with the strombus shell in an enamelled mount, as part of the Norwich Castle Museum Collection. 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.” — Booklist (starred review)
The Paston Treasure is one of the most enigmatic paintings in Western art. A new book and exhibition, now on view at the painting’s home in the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, in Norfolk, UK (June 23–September 23, 2018), tell the story of the family of collectors who commissioned the work—which is still unattributed and largely shrouded in mystery—and delves into their obsession for beautiful objects. This is, at a glance, many of Goodreads Penny fans’ favorite book. It’s obviously well-crafted and very ambitious, (though maybe too much so; see below), as Penny tries to connect the dots between all sorts of important historical and fictional entities: The attic space also contains other odds and ends, including a medieval grimoire - a book with magic spells and incantations. The painting’s discovery will unleash a bloody retribution that Gamache never expected, and that threatens not just his life but everything dear to him. Cozy it’s not, but “A World of Curiosities” is an irresistible read. Now streaming Did she really believe repeating rabbit, rabbit, rabbit made a difference? No. Of course not. How could she? It was a silly superstition. There was nothing actually magical about those words. Where did it even come from anyway? And why “rabbit”?
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