A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Gamache)

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It is easy to show you belong if there is someone else to collectively exclude, lots of bullying works this way. And what might 92-year-old Kaye Thompson, who was sitting next to CC at the match, have seen as she was murdered? The beauty of Louise Penny's auspicious debut novel, Still Life , is that it's composed entirely of grace notes, all related to the central mystery of who shot an arrow into the heart of Miss Jane Neal. So much more comforting to see bad in others; gives us all sorts of excuses for our own bad behavior.

I like the way however the author has brought in elements outwith the particular crime that hint at past and forthcoming events in Gamache and his team's lives. By the same token, people do exist who struggle to be generous, compassionate, kind and loving, who ignore homeless people and then feel bad about it and go back to bring them coffee -- but they don't get epiphanies as a result, and they don't have an admiring audience constantly thinking about how wonderful they are. He'd take deep dark breaths of the night air, trying to reassure himself that the stifled yawn of his dinner companion was because of the wine or the magret de canard or the warmth in the Montreal restaurant, wrapped as they were in their sensible winter sweaters. By the time I got to that meeting, I couldn’t stop talking about how amazing Louise was, except perhaps to ignore everyone else and keep reading more of the story. But still she seemed to grow fuzzy, then sharp, as though he was looking through a prism at two different women, one beautiful, glamorous, vivacious, and the other a pathetic, dyed-blonde rope, all corded and wound and knotted and rough.We are also treated to more background on some of my favorite characters from the last book, Clara and Myrna, plus poetry from the irascible Ruth. I was shocked by Clara ignoring the homeless woman when she's supposed to be so loving and generous and connected, but nobody else was. Although Louise Penny’s novels feature some rather nasty murders, I would classify her Inspector Gamache murder mysteries as cosy crime, especially as there are some lovely descriptions of situation and setting and some wonderful descriptions of food(!

More emotion, in depth character analysis, and what is perceived and what is really inside peoples minds. Thank you again, Hope, for getting us off to an excellent start in our re-examination of A Fatal Grace, and joining in on our discussions. The method was complicated, and how the inspector begins to pull the threads that become real clues is masterful.I am not sure how many times I’ve read A Fatal Grace , but I still find it as extraordinary as I did back in 2006. With each breath his nostrils froze shut and the air was like an ice pack in his sinuses, shooting pain through his forehead and making his eyes tear and freeze. In the case of my book club, most of the Louise Penny fans were perfectly happy with the book, while others of us were less enthusiastic.

They were as warm and brilliant and funny as you might imagine from reading Louise’s books, and it’s been a joy to work with her ever since. I’ve been to Montreal once in March, so Louise Penny’s descriptions of winter in Quebec seem spot-on, several scenes made me downright chilly!

So if you love mystery and rare, rich setting; if you long for unique characters and meaning deep as bones, then don't miss A FATAL GRACE. They usually have thick cables with orange rubber coating, and the clips are massive, not little bitty alligator clips. I guess it’s a thread that will perhaps run through the next several books, sort of tying them all together. It took a long time for Gamache to make his entrance in this book but I'm getting to know the folks of Three Pines so I enjoy spending time with them, too.

In this volume I learned more about the personalities of Gamache and his team, about their past and their fears. I am enjoying the early stages of my Louise Penny binge, having found something that is not only unique, but captivating in its descriptive power.

I was shocked by Gamache not actually trying to help Crie, but all the characters were shocked that he did. Sure, nobody liked CC, but who hated her enough—and had the expertise—to pull off something like that? And it strikes me that, while certainly there would be exceptions to the rule, most of the people who enjoy hanging out in Scudder's New York aren't going to want to spend a lot of time in Gamache's Three Pines, and vice-versa.