Not too much to say about this one. Not one of my favorites of this series. Parts of it I really liked, and parts of it I really did not. It’s been over a month now, and I’ve read 1,000 books since then, so I’m really not remembering specifics here.
I remember there was a missing woman, and that plotline was interesting. I wished I was more interested in the plotline where Gamache comes back to be the head of the homicide department, a move meant to be a humiliating demotion, but which he embraces. I appreciate that Penny doesn’t let her characters stagnate, but at the same time, I feel like I’m getting a bit of whiplash here with the trajectory of Gamache’s career.
According to my GR status updates, the reason I didn’t give this one four stars despite liking the main mystery is that Penny’s attempts to link the mystery and the personal lives of the characters was a lot more ham-fisted and obvious than it usually is with her. Usually there is a pretty good attempt at subtlety, and if it fails, I don’t mind. But here, it’s just obvious as the nose on your face, which makes it seem more constructed, and that means you can’t just sink into the story and forget you’re a real person, which is my preferred mode of reading.
It’s kind of tripping me out that I only have two more books before I’m caught up with this series.