A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Gamache)

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Read book 4 before 2 and 3 because I was caught at an airport with only A Rule Against Murder to dive into, so now I shall take up the slack.

CC humiliates Crie about her weight and her clothes, but the narrative does the same, lingering over scenes of Crie's suffering and commenting constantly on her obesity. I couldn’t figure out how Elle knew about Clara’s work, to tell Clara, “I’ve always loved your work Clara”. Anyone with a single brain cell would see jumper cables clipped to a metal chair and their alarm bells would deafen everybody in the town. I know I will and I’ll not be waiting until I go to an out of town library until I read the next installment.

All this and much more as Three Pines envelopes Gamache and the reader for another stunning mystery. There are so many clues hidden in plain sight in A Fatal Grace , I lost count at 6 or 7 (all of which I missed the first time through). So much more comforting to see bad in others; gives us all sorts of excuses for our own bad behavior. Her underarms bulged and flopped and the rolls of her waist made the skintight dress look like a melting strawberry ice cream.

No one seems to have sympathy and is happy to see her gone but Gamache and his team are dispatched nonetheless to find the murderer.I also marvel that someone like me, who is at least as much of a skeptic as Jean-Guy Beauvoir, can find myself wondering about such mysteries as lemon meringue pie.

In the end the text reduces Crie to the symbol of her mother's evil, a reflection/victim of her mother's narcissism.

Penny uses not only the peaceful Eastern Townships as her setting, but continues to provide the reader with some great character development of Armand Gamache, a man whose intellect is balanced with a compassionate side.