“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen
Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it’s a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn’t spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.
As events come to a head, Gamache is drawn ever deeper into the world of Three Pines. Increasingly, he is not only investigating the disappearance of Myrna’s friend but also seeking a safe place for himself and his still-loyal colleagues. Is there peace to be found even in Three Pines, and at what cost to Gamache and the people he holds dear?
"Following the monastic side trip of The Beautiful Mystery, Louise Penny returns to the remote Quebec village of Three Pines in How the Light Gets In. The storylines involve the family history of a fictionalized version of the Dionne quintuplets, and the police corruption that Chief Inspector Gamache has been contending with, over the course of the last several books. This conflict finally comes to a head, precipitated by Gamache out of desperation. Loyalty and trust are tested to the limit, and always in question.
This is Penny's most suspenseful book to date, the result of careful building of plot and character throughout the series. The story arc wraps up many loose ends in a way that would be satisfying, if this should happen to be the end of the series. I hope it is not, and my instinct is that Penny is not through telling the stories of Three Pines. If I'm right, it will be interesting to see whether the situation somehow reverts after this pivotal book, or continues off in a drastic new direction."
1 comment:
I loved the series. It started in Three Pines and seems to be ending in Three Pines. This one sounded very much like the last of the series to me. Loved how all the loose end were tied up in this one
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