"A Rule Against Murder" by Louise Penny

The "Notes From Three Pines" Readalong of Louise Penny's Three Pines/Inspector Gamache murder mystery novels recently resumed with a discussion of the third book in the series, "The Cruellest Month," which I read & reviewed in April, here. 

Meanwhile, I just finished book #4, "A Rule Against Murder" (titled "The Murder Stone" in some markets). This one is notable for being the first Three Pines mystery (so far?) that's almost entirely set outside of Three Pines -- although a couple of Three Pines residents play a prominent role in the plot, and other characters we've come to know from the previous books are also featured.  

I'll admit, I've kind of fallen in love with Three Pines, and I automatically assumed that I wasn't going to enjoy this book as much as the others because of the change in venue.  

I was wrong. 

It's late June (and it was early June as I read this!), and Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are at the exclusive, rustic Manoir Bellechasse (not too far from Three Pines) to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They come here every year at this time -- but this time, they have company: members of the extended Finney family have more or less taken over the inn for a family reunion.  

And then (of course!) there's a murder -- and Gamache must interrupt his holiday to investigate, not only whodunnit, but why and how. 

As with the previous three novels, this one starts out slow, but picks up the pace and gets more interesting once the murder takes place. Observing the bickering, highly dysfunctional Finneys, Gamache finds himself reflecting on his relationships with his own parents and his two adult children. There are also quasi-familial relationships among the staff members at the inn. The focus on families did not faze me, as a childless-not-by-choice person -- perhaps because the Finneys are such a disagreeable bunch (lol), but also because (as usual) the writing was just SO good, the characters so well drawn and human, and the plot and subplots so absorbing. 

There are a couple of dramatic touches that seemed just a *little* cliched/overly dramatic -- e.g., both the murder AND the climax where the killer is confronted take place during huge summer storms -- but they weren't enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. 

While I feel like I can never have too much Three Pines in my life ;) it turned out the new setting was not the negative factor I'd assumed it would be. In fact, Manoir Bellechasse is another place I'd love to visit, if it existed in real life. (Penny says in the author's message at the end that it's loosely based on the Hovey Inn in North Hatley, Quebec, where she was married.)  

(As with the previous books: do not read this when you're hungry! -- the food descriptions will have you drooling!)  

5 stars on Goodreads. 

This was Book #24 read to date in 2023 (and Book #2 finished in June), bringing me to 53% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 4 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2023 tagged as "2023 books."