A review by bgg616
A Better Man, by Louise Penny
4.0
Those of us who rush to read the newest Louise Penny novel do so to keep up with Armand Gamache, his family, and his Quebec village, Three Pines. Gamache is a high-ranking police officer, in the Quebec Sûreté. Gamache was removed from duty and spent time on leave after a disastrous police operation in which he nearly lost his life. Thinking that he will resign, Gamache is offered the option of coming back as second-in-command. He takes it knowing that it will embarrass his higher-ups and give him the chance to return to the work he loves. He will be working under his son-in-law Jean-Guy Beauvoir.
The novel opens with spring flooding threatening nearly the entire province of Quebec. Those at the top are reluctant to take drastic action, and their caution could produce deadly consequences. Here we see Gamache in his characteristic manner acts with the intelligence that his readers love and respect. At the same time, a woman goes missing, and a police officer who knows her family, and her situation, urges an investigation despite the flooding. Gamache decides to go with another officer to her home, and her father’s home. He is driven to find this woman after seeing her father’s despair, and realizing that if his daughter Annie were missing, he’d go to the ends of the earth to find her.
Fans of the Gamache novels appreciate his thoughtful consideration of all aspects of his cases. He is deeply compassionate, and appears to be genuinely driven by a love of humanity, Canada, Quebec, his village and his family. He is thorough, and relentless. The plots of these novels are complex, and the solutions to crimes are never obvious. These are the elements that bring readers back again and again. Details of life in Quebec are thoughtful and never superficial, and for me, part of the delight of the Gamache series.
There are always one or two subplots in Penny’s novels. In this one, Myrna, an artist, becomes a victim of negative social media ridiculing her paintings. While this was an interesting thread, it wasn’t adequately developed. Social media is also being used against Gamache. Penny apparently wanted to make a valuable point about the harm that social media can do, which is a worthy theme. However, this aspect of the plot came up short.
Like other faithful readers, I will be waiting for the next installment of Gamache’s story.
The novel opens with spring flooding threatening nearly the entire province of Quebec. Those at the top are reluctant to take drastic action, and their caution could produce deadly consequences. Here we see Gamache in his characteristic manner acts with the intelligence that his readers love and respect. At the same time, a woman goes missing, and a police officer who knows her family, and her situation, urges an investigation despite the flooding. Gamache decides to go with another officer to her home, and her father’s home. He is driven to find this woman after seeing her father’s despair, and realizing that if his daughter Annie were missing, he’d go to the ends of the earth to find her.
Fans of the Gamache novels appreciate his thoughtful consideration of all aspects of his cases. He is deeply compassionate, and appears to be genuinely driven by a love of humanity, Canada, Quebec, his village and his family. He is thorough, and relentless. The plots of these novels are complex, and the solutions to crimes are never obvious. These are the elements that bring readers back again and again. Details of life in Quebec are thoughtful and never superficial, and for me, part of the delight of the Gamache series.
There are always one or two subplots in Penny’s novels. In this one, Myrna, an artist, becomes a victim of negative social media ridiculing her paintings. While this was an interesting thread, it wasn’t adequately developed. Social media is also being used against Gamache. Penny apparently wanted to make a valuable point about the harm that social media can do, which is a worthy theme. However, this aspect of the plot came up short.
Like other faithful readers, I will be waiting for the next installment of Gamache’s story.