"The Brutal Telling" by Louise Penny

"The Brutal Telling" by Louise Penny opens in early September, just before the Labour Day weekend.  (This is #5 in the series of her Inspector Gamache/Three Pines murder mystery novels.  It's late August and, coincidentally, I also read the last few books in almost the exact same time periods they were set in --  "The Cruellest Month" (#3) at Eastertime in April, and "A Rule Against Murder" (set in late June) in mid-June.) 

The opening words set the tone of the book:  "Chaos is coming, old son."  Once again, murder disturbs the peace of this lovely little old village in Quebec's Eastern Townships. A body is discovered in Olivier's Bistro, the community's beloved central meeting place. Who was the victim, how did he come to be in the bistro, and why was he killed? The townspeople -- and Gamache -- are not prepared for what the investigation reveals.   

This was a magnificent book in so many ways -- superb writing and characterization, and wise insights into the human condition (as always!).  I loved how Penny wove so many elements into her story -- history (both Canadian and world, ancient and recent), art (Emily Carr and the totem poles of the Indigenous peoples of British Columbia), poetry, humour (Ruth and her pet duck Rosa...!). 

And yet -- I was left feeling slightly dissatisfied at the end. I couldn't quite give it 5 stars for that reason. There seemed to be several questions/loose ends that were never quite explained/resolved (in a satisfactory way, at least) -- and while all the evidence ultimately pointed in one direction, I still found myself not quite believing Gamache had found the right killer in the end. (I didn't want to believe!)

But plot elements from one book in this series have often carried over to others -- and (from reading a couple of the reviews on Goodreads) I understand that the story continues in the next installment (#6, "Bury Your Dead"). (Which is why I think it's important to read this series in order, if at all possible.)  The promise of learning more, plus the wonderful characters and ambiance of Three Pines, will definitely keep me coming back!  

4.5 stars on StoryGraph, rounded down to 4 stars on Goodreads.  

I've now tagged all my previous reviews (plus this one) with a new "Louise Penny/Gamache" label.  :)  

This was Book #32 read to date in 2023 (and Book #5 finished in August), bringing me to 71% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 3 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2023 tagged as "2023 books."