Half Cannonball, and a third of the way through the Inspector Gamache books!
Like all the other Inspector Gamache books, this one is great. If you’re not familiar, these books take place in Quebec (mostly in a small town called Three Pines, but this one takes place at a remote hotel not too far away), and star Inspector Armand Gamache, a homicide detective and one of the best people in literature. By “best” I don’t mean best written (although he is pretty well written), but I mean like literally one of the best people ever. He’s kind, forgiving, smart, gentle, and patient. He’s a gem.
In A Rule Against Murder, Gamache and his wife are vacationing at the isolated resort, Manoir Bellechasse. The only other guests are a family–mother, stepfather, several grown children, and one grandchild. Eventually there is a murder, of course, and Gamache is tasked with solving it, which he does so with his usual level of skill and discernment, and then, again, all is right with the world. If you enjoyed the other Gamache books, you’ll enjoy this one as well. It’s kind of nice to be away from Three Pines for once, and as always the minor characters in the book are interesting and fun to get to know (I love Bean!).
So. Now that that’s out of the way, can we talk about Peter? For those not in the know or those who may have forgotten: Peter is the husband of Clara, a main character in most of these books. He’s a resident of Three Pines, a painter, and in A Rule Against Murder he is one of the adult children staying at the resort. And there is something up with Peter. When I read the first Gamache book I was about 85% sure Peter would turn out to be the bad guy (he didn’t), and then in each book since there have been. . . undertones. I really think there’s something wrong with Peter, guys, and I’m growing increasingly worried about Clara. For those of you who have read the series, no spoilers please, but did anyone else find themselves feeling a little uncomfortable with this guy?
