Gamache #9:  Beginnings and endings
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The story opens with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in professional limbo.  He still heads up the once esteemed Homicide Division of the Surete du Quebec, but most of his loyal team has been reassigned.  He's faced with either offering his resignation or staying on as the ineffectual leader of a failing department rife with corruption.

A missing persons case with a tie-in to Three Pines offers him a distraction and perhaps something more.  The small village tucked away somewhere between Montreal and the US border may offer Armand the safety in which to plan his next move and in effect make his last stand.

This was an unequivocal "hit" for me.  As always Penny's writing is a pure pleasure to read, with its fine characterization and quick, witty dialog.  Her obvious affection for these characters is contagious; I've come to think of them as "real" people also.  This installment is all about seeing behind the faade, being willing to concede that things, places and even people are often not what they seem.

We see a different side to Armand Gamache; certainly more calculating, perhaps less controlled and at times almost reckless.  This is a carefully plotted and well thought out story.  The suspense builds throughout and the last 70 or so pages made for tense reading.  And the ending?  I'll just say that I believe it can be interpreted a couple of different ways.  An excellent story and one that I highly recommend.

If you are new to Inspector Gamache and Three Pines, I don't recommend that you start here.  This book is the culmination of a storyline that was introduced in book one,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Still-Life-Chief-Inspector-Armand-Gamache-Mysteries-No-1/dp/0312541538/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Mysteries, No. 1)</a>&nbsp;.  There's occasional strong language; no sexual content.
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"Hmm, an ominous passage, that plunges into blackness, sealed behind lock and chain."
"You know what this means"
"We must see where it leads!"

This volume collects the chapters 15-22 of the webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court.  The comic follows Antimony Carver through her years at the mysterious titular school, and builds as it goes along.  Starting at the beginning is best.

After an exciting first year at GC and a quiet Summer Antimony is eagerly awaiting the return of her best friend Kat and the start of school.  As one can expect at GC, it promises to be at least as eventful.

As great as the first 14 chapters were, GC somehow keeps getting better and better.  We get more adventures, more details about the school, the woods and the past, and fallout from Coyote's visit to the Court.  The pacing and balance is superb, and the mix of humor and drama outstanding.  Each chapter is in a sense a complete story, but they all contribute to expanding the overall plot and our understanding of the characters.  Themes of science versus nature and the existence of magic continue to slowly build in fascinating ways.

The large supporting cast is integrated here and there, always in character and in ways that makes sense, making sure everyone remains somewhat in the spotlight while avoiding using anyone irrelevantly.  Jones is a great new character and the mediation stuff seem like it's going to be really interesting. The entire cast is amazingly well developed and three dimensional in general. Mort and Reynardine in particular amuse me to no end.  Most importantly Antimony and Kat remain multi-layered, engaging and likable heroines.

The art is highly stylized and might take some getting used to, but it is expertly done and I personally adore it.  It's also interesting to track as the comic goes on, because there is observable improvement over time as the artist perfects things.

Overall Gunnerkrigg Court continues to be phenomenal stuff. It's quirky, compelling and just a flat out wonderful read.

Highly recommended.
3502954
This was the first Louise Penny's Gamache novel I read.  I will read more.  Found it easy to read and not filled with a lot of gore.
2272700
I WAS FORAGING THROUGH AMAZON BOOKSTORE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO READ AND "STILL LIFE" CAUGHT MY EYE.NINE NOVELS LATER I'D READ ALL THE GAMACHE NOVELS.I THOURGHLY ENJOYED EACH NOVEL AND AM DEPRESSED THAT NUMBER TEN IS NOT AVAILABLE. I LOVED MS. PENNY'S PROSE AND HER CHARACTERS.READING HER NOVELS WAS A PLEASURE.GO LOUISE!I LOVE YOUR STYLE !
560749
The Long Way Home, the tenth in the series featuring Chief Inspector Gamache, is not for those who have not read the preceding novels.  It is not a stand alone story.  It is, possibly, a culmination of the story lines, the career of Gamache, and the lives of the characters the many readers of Penny's work have come to know, love, and hate.  At the same time, it may not be the book her readers expected, either.

No one should be surprised by Gamache's retirement after events in How the Light Gets In.  Nor would any be surprised by his retirement to Three Pines.  What is surprising is that it is not the same sort of mystery with which he was confronted in the earlier books.  Taking an extended story line off on a tangent isn't unusual, although some will say (and probably have said) this one goes way off track.

In depicting the corrosive power of jealousy in a relationship that is also full of love, Penny shows how people's lives can get off track, becoming something they never considered possible.  In doing so, she employed many elements that were more than a little melodramatic.  The characters do things out of character.  And one soul became so lost that it was impossible to find the way back.

This is not the strongest in the series.  Like The Beautiful Mystery, it seems to wander from the original path, even to the point of having situations which seem totally implausible.  There is a lot about art, human emotion and betrayal, disappointment, and human frailties.

As an addition to the Gamache series, this tenth element is not as satisfying as the preceding works.  Of them all, it is the only one that cannot stand alone.  Don't read this out of order.  Only those who have lived with these characters through the other nine books will understand or sympathize with what happens.
3614469
The first book in the Chief Inspector Gamache detective series. Reminds me of the best from Agatha Christie - only brought up to the current time. I can't wait to read more Louise Penny CI Gamache stories!
2583418
Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels are great reads.  Penny has lived enough life to be able to create realistic characters who you can love, despise and identify with.  The series is a long one, which is good for people who like to re-enter a comfortable fictional world over and over again.  I believe some of the stories have been made into movies in Canada.  Keep going on this series.  It only gets better.
4353948
Louise Penny has created a wonderful cast of characters that appear in this series. All her plots are amazingly creative and unique. I do believe this is one of her best., and I sure hope not the last in the Gamache series.
However, there were quality issues with the disks----there was a garbled section on disk 5, track 11, and again on disk 11, track 14.
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Penny's use of interior dialogue and detail for description make the reader feel as if he/she knows the setting and characters. Inspector Gamache leads us through his observations as he searches for resolution, and in so doing, reveals more of himself. As usual, Penny unveils new information about the familiar characters from Three Pines. Like everyone who experiences a Louise Penny, I am a fan.
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We are now approaching the beginning of the end. The good guys have regained their footing and are starting a counter strike that is going to lead us right through the finale. Ed proves that he is a total bad ass. Again. Al meets up with someone from his past and gets some much needed answers concerning the history of the homunculi. And, speaking of the homunculi, some major things happen within their ranks as well. The humor is back and things start to take a much more positive spin as people realize they can bond together and with hard work can overcome their difficulties no matter how outnumbered or outmatched they are.

The last few pages set a fantastic note for the ending of the series (though I realize that is still several volumes away) and human wit, stubbornness, and sheer nerve prove to be a very powerful combination when coming up against an immortal enemy that has been plotting the human's downfall for centuries. Though the homunculi still have some truly terrifying cards up their sleeve that might prove to be more formidable than the humans are prepared to deal with. We will just have to see.

This novel manages to change the entire tone of the series from one of fear on the run from a foe with supernatural means and horrific ends to a new one of hope against impossible odds. Whether or not they prove to be successful in overcoming the homunculi, and maybe even getting Ed's and Al's bodies back into the bargain, remains to be seen.
720001
I love the way you write Louise Penny!
I'm addicted to Chief Gamachi! Your
writing has a wonderful flow and feel.
Please keep on writing about his
adventures!!!
955832
Having read all of the previous Gamache books in the series, I believe this to be the most intensely personal in terms of the Gamache character. It seems to me as if this is the penultimate (if not final? I hope not) book of the entire series in terms of its subject matter. If there were ten stars, I'd give it ten gold ones.

Others have discussed the plot so I won't regurgitate it here. Suffice to say that Armand Gamache leaves the safety of Three Pines where he has "retired" to heal, to rejoin the "fight" to preserve and protect the present and future of his beloved Surete.

I respectfully disagree with those who say this is a stand-alone story. It is, on a very one-dimensional level. But the depth of this book  is really experienced fully only by those who have followed Armand's life and challenges. If you don't know where he's been and experienced  via the prior books in the series (especially those with the most dramatic events in his life in the Surete), there is no way you can appreciate the emotional dimensions of this story. This is a deeply layered plot.

I've read many mystery and psychological thriller series with good storylines, plots and characters, but author Penny is in a class by herself. Never has a central character and his friends and associates captured my heart. Never has any character felt so real (and the depiction of Three Pines? Do we not all want to live there at some point in our lives?) and soulful.

Perhaps even more than in any other book of the series, Gamache reveals his deepest emotions and their source. If you loved and respected Armand before, you'll be even more deeply moved by the revelations of this book.

Penny is a masterful writer who keeps you deeply engaged (and moved) with her insights into the heart and soul of human relationships and motivations. More than others, she exposes the light and shadow that exists within us all.

Gamache has always been a complex, multi-dimensional character but never perhaps more so than in A Great Reckoning.

Once again, there is a brilliant subplot that shows Penny's skill at weaving in all sorts of information into an intriguing and moving mystery that includes all the local characters (Clara, Myrna, the one and only Ruth, Gabri, Olivier, Jean-Guy) and his beloved wife, Reine-Marie, as well as some new ones that may (?) represent the future of the Surete.

I devoured this book in a day. I wanted to pace myself so it would not end but I just could not help myself. As much as one can slow it down to savor the story unfolding, as anyone who adores Gamache, you will find yourself soaring to the resolution of several plotlines.

Even for those of us who are familiar with the way Gamache thinks and acts, there will be surprises.

I'm already missing Three Pines and the locals. I hope that Penny finds ways for us to revisit even if not with Armand. (The idea of Penny doing a series on one or more of the others leave me hopeful.)
2777209
Chief Inspector of Homicide Armand Gamache nearly died while trying to rescue his kidnapped agent, after tracking the young man to the site where he was held captive by terrorists. So did Gamache's long time subordinate and beloved protege, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir. Each man needs to heal psychologically as well as physically before returning to duty, and they are doing so in separate ways. Gamache has gone to Quebec City to stay with his own mentor, now retired Chief Inspector Emile Comeau, during winter carnival. Beauvoir has gone to the southern Quebec village of Three Pines, where Gamache and his team investigated the murder of a mysterious man known only as the Hermit. Their investigation led to the conviction and imprisonment of local bistro owner and antiques dealer Olivier Brule, whose partner, Gabriel, has written Gamache a letter every day since then. Each letter concludes, "He didn't do it, you know." Gamache has finally begun to wonder whether or not Gabri might not be right - and if that's the case, Gamache wants to find the real killer and get Olivier cleared and freed. So he has asked Beauvoir to take part of his medical leave in Three Pines, and look into the case again without making it an official re-opening.

Of course Gamache stumbles into a murder while making his visit to Comeau. An often ridiculed "historian" is found dead and buried in the cellar of the Literary and Historical Society that holds the history of Quebec's shrinking Anglo population. The local investigator invites Gamache to participate in the case, and Gamache finds it intriguing because the victim was obsessed with locating the grave of the father of Quebec: Samuel de Champlain.

The events that haunt both Gamache and Beauvoir force themselves back into both men's minds as their separate investigations play out, and this novel's dual plot unfolds. For Gamache and Beauvoir both need to face what happened - to work through it, and resolve it - before either can be whole again. Author Penny's images of Quebec in winter, in both city and village, are beautiful and gripping. It's easy to feel the terrible cold, and to then feel the miracle of life-giving warmth. The relationships Beauvoir never developed before with the Three Pines villagers prove important now, both to his solving the re-opened case and to healing the invisible yet terrible wounds he carries. Gamache regains confidence in his own intuition, and learns again the truth of the first things his mentor taught him long ago. This is a powerful piece of work! One of Louise Penny's best, I think. Its many layers and final irony both delighted me.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"
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All our friends nd s are here plus new characters In hope we will see more of in future books.  This is most likely the most uncomfortable.readmformPenny's devotees due to the case Gamache finds himself involved in but stay with it.  This is an enjoyable book.
542245
Another great installment in the Gamache series.  Penny doesn't follow the same formula from book to book, and the characters evolve over time.  I was addicted from the beginning.
2081316
The Beautiful Mystery is indeed a murder mystery, and a very good one.  But at the same time it is a study of many characters and many ideas.  With and through Inspector Gamache, we consider the meaning and value of religious faith, of making choices about good and evil, of forgiveness and tolerance, and of human nature.  All of the characters are fully developed, lovable and fallible.  Reading this book is a very different experience from reading a formulaic who-done-it.  I loved it and hope you do too.
4584666
"Greenwitch" is the third book in "The Dark is Rising" series, and it is necessary to be familiar with the first two books "Over Sea, Under Stone" and "The Dark is Rising" to fully understand what is going on in this volume. In the first book siblings Simon, Jane and Barney uncovered the grail from its hiding place, but unfortunately lost the lead-incased manuscript that would decipher the inscription on the grail's side. Now after the grail has been stolen from the museum, their great-uncle Merry brings them once more to Trewissick in order to find what they once lost.

Meeting them for the first time is Will Stanton, the youngest of the Old Ones, the beings of the Light that guard mankind against the Dark. He came into his own in "The Dark is Rising", finding the Six Signs, and now is joining the Drew children to search for the grail. An ancient soul in the body of a small boy, the Drews are initially none to pleased to find competition for their uncle's time and energy, but the search for the grail and the manuscript soon puts this out of their mind.

Jane attends a women-only all-night festival that involves the making of something called "the Greenwitch", made of rock and branches. Tentatively she makes a wish for the vastly powerful and lonely being - a wish that could do what neither the Light nor the Dark can accomplish. But with the presence of a malevolent painter that has Barney in his power, the anger of the Greenwitch and the return of a ghostly traitor from Trewissick's past, it is a challenge to reach the finish line and the next step in the ongoing quest.

"The Greenwitch" is the shortest book in the series, and most swift readers will probably finish it in one sitting (or at least one day), and although it is a carefully crafted read, it could have used a bit of padding, especially in the relationship between Will and the Drew children. It is prickly at first, and then mellows out at the end, but does not really record the transition between these two states. However, as always the story is packed with original ideas and her language is beautiful, especially the nightmare sequence when the Wild Magic of the Greenwitch is unleashed on the town.

An essential part of the collection, "Greenwitch" is a great inclusion, wrapping up plot points from the previous two books and setting the stage for the next two. In many ways, this is Jane's story, making the book unique considering she is the only female of note in the entire series - though she's hardly a strong, independent female of the 21st century, her simple wish is really quite touching and harks back to the days when females didn't have to swing a sword or do kick-boxing in order to make a real difference.