A Great Reckoning: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel)

Where's this book been?
by Louise Penny | Mystery & Thrillers |
ISBN: 1250022134 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 1/20/2018
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, January 20, 2018
I got this ex-library hardcover from the ongoing book sale at the Wadleigh Memorial Library in Milford, NH, for another release copy. It's one of the latest books in Penny's "Three Pines" series, and shows how retired Inspector Gamache has chosen to occupy his time.

While I love the entire series, some books have pleased me more than others. Among my favorites: Bury Your Dead, an intense, gut-wrenching story, and How the Light Gets In, also wildly intense, and yet with some of the most marvelous, joyful scenes in the series. (My comments on those may include spoilers, so read at your peril!)

I enjoyed this book, not least because it featured nearly all of my favorite characters from the previous books - though one notable one only appeared in a crowd scene late in the story. [That was Yvette Nichol, who I'd rather hoped would appear earlier to meet new character Amelia Choquet; somehow I thought they'd have had some very interesting conversations.]

I suspect that this book will read very, very differently to one who is not familiar with the series than to those of us who are. I guessed immediately, early on, what the mystery around Amelia was, and why Gamache was torn about whether to approve or reject her application, and since it seemed so obvious to me I was a bit impatient when so many of Gamache's nearest and dearest harbored (however fleeting) doubts about him. That also meant that the final revelation wasn't as impactful for me as for someone who was taken by surprise, but I still appreciated that subplot.

I did have some quibbles about the story, not least the way in which it seems that so many theoretically-curious trainee agents put off a simple web-search about their new commander - Gamache - until well into the tale. These days, wouldn't everyone be doing lots of Googling from the get-go, and passing around the infamous video and other news? Ah, well. Despite that and a few other "wouldn't they have already checked that??" moments, I found the story enjoyable, and always like revisiting Three Pines. And in this book we find out why the village isn't on any maps {wry grin}.

[There is a sobering note at the end; Penny's acknowledgements include the sad news that her husband is suffering increasingly from dementia. "Dementia is a marauder, a thief. But every hole it drills has been filled by our friends. By practical help and emotional support."]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Little Free Library, Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk, Maine USA on Saturday, January 20, 2018

Released 6 yrs ago (1/21/2018 UTC) at Little Free Library, Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk, Maine USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book in the Little Free Library on this warm-for-January afternoon; hope the finder enjoys it!

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