This had quite a bit of humor built into it which was nice. The mystery was just so-so, a couple surprises, but overall it was enjoyable anyway. The title was used a few times too many for me, I started to feel like 'yes! I get it!', but that's a small thing. I kind of doubt I would reread it, but it was worth my time now. ( )

Great characters; convoluted mystery. ( )

Back in Three Pines -- this book gets more personal with the lives of some of the residents. Though I had figured out the 'whodunnit', I was still left going "WHAT THE?" at the end. This tale continues into the next book in the series a little bit. ( )

This one broke my heart. I love the fictional village of Three Pines and I really hope we get to see it again. ( )

We are back in the familiar Three Pines setting with Inspector Gamache and his team and all the residents but this one was just a bit too byzantine for my tastes. Sorting out the murder got way more complex than it ever needed to be with First Nation carvings and Czech refugees and priceless treasures and secret codes and perhaps more plot twists that I didn't even bother to remember. But when the ending came, it felt forced and still didn't tie up any ends for me. Plus I still don't really get Peter and Clara, whom Penny seems to want me to care so very much about. Hoping some of the loose ends of this one get picked up later.

A fantastic book that deepened the stories in the series, as it appears the killer of a hermit no one knew may well be a beloved Three Pines resident or a newcomer. This reread was as good as reading it the first time. ( )

Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series just gets better and better. Characters full of life and humanity, sometimes carried away by their flaws, add to a plot that drives along, enticing you to forsake sleep and food to uncover the truth! ( )

This series just keeps getting better and better! ( )

A second disappointing book in the Gamache series which started so well. This one is Louise Penny meets Dan Brown, with a large emphasis on (pointless) cryptic messages. There is, again, too much time spent on people's unbelievably reflective innermost thoughts, expressed in over-the-top terms. Much of the time the plot dragged. And I hated the ending; almost threw the book against the wall. There were just enough moments of Penny's good writing to keep me plugging along, and since I already own the next book in the series I will read it, but I think it is set away from Three Pines and a good thing for all concerned, including the residents of Three Pines! ( )

A superb mystery with artistic and literary references to Thoreau, to Emily Carr, quotes, and a gently evolving but interesting murder story in small town Quebec. I listened to it on CD and the reader was ideal. ( )

This is the fifth in the Detective Inspector Armand Gamache series. My verdict, like for the previous four books, is that it’s okay, but not great.

The body of a stranger is found in the village bistro in Three Pines. It’s obvious that he was murdered. Gamache and his team arrive to investigate. Though Olivier doesn’t admit to knowing him, the reader knows that Olivier visited the man, a hermit, who lived in a cabin in the woods surrounding the village. When the cabin is located, it is found to be filled with very valuable antiques and collectibles. All the clues suggest that Olivier is the killer; his lack of truthfulness only adds to his being the main suspect.

The lack of proper procedure stands out. Gamache shares information with residents of Three Pines, any of whom could be the murderer! He even lets people have access to evidence! He manages to obtain a warrant to search every single house in the village. I’m not a legal expert, but I don’t think that’s how warrants work. Shouldn’t there be arrests of people who tampered with evidence and impeded the investigation?

I was irritated by some other issues as well. No one else other than Olivier is aware of the existence of the cabin? Gabri, Olivier’s partner, is totally unaware of Olivier’s regular midnight trysts? Gamache has to take a trip to the West Coast to figure out that the carvings, taken as a whole, tell a story?! The Caesar code is one of the easiest to decipher and it’s misleading to state that a key word is needed; all someone has to do is to try a shift of one, two, three, etc. There are only 25 possibilities! Why would the hermit carve these particular words in two of the carvings; they seem to serve little purpose for the hermit. Only for the investigators do they have significance? The man knew he was going to be killed so left the words as clues? Finally, a successful art dealer is so overtly homophobic?!

There are several unanswered questions in the book, including the identity of the victim. Having looked at some reviews, it seems that the next book clarifies some of the ambiguities. If that is indeed the case, then the author did not treat the reader fairly; this seems a cheap tactic to sell more books.

I’m starting to feel slightly masochistic in continuing to listen to this series. The promise that the books do get better is not being fulfilled. I understand that this is a cozier mystery, but the number of unbelievable events is problematic.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski). ( )

This one broke ma little bit ( )

A complete stranger is found murdered inside the local bistro in the small rather remote settlement of Three Pines - a common setting for Inspector Gamache stories. Suspicion falls on outsiders and incomers as attempts to identify the victim are stymied. Eventually it is a village insider who becomes the most obvious culprit. It is Inspector Gamache's insights into evidence and character that leads his team to catch the killer.

Alongside the murder investigation we get glimpses into the lives of the villagers an their eccentric habits, hobbies and relationships, and the ways in which Gamache's team interact and develop a worldview with his prompting and leadership.

As always, Louise Penny has produced a book of great subtlety and character within a violent setting and narrative. Very often nothing seems to happen, but her painting of characters and emotions show us that everything is happening, often all at once.

Another highly recommended read from this unfailingly excellent series. ( )

KIRKUS REVIEWChief Inspector Gamache of the Canadian S?ret? is again called to restore order to the tiny Quebecois hamlet of Three Pines.Olivier and Gabri, gay owners of the Bistro and B&B, insist they that they don?t know the dead man and can?t imagine how he came to be lying on their floor. That?s not quite the truth, but it?s merely the setup for the first of many surprises. The real story will unravel for Gamache and his subordinates Beauvoir and Lacoste in startling ways. These include the discovery that the corpse has been moved three times by two different people; the return of a father declared dead over 20 years ago; a word woven into a spider?s web; and the disclosure of several wood carvings emanating evil that require Gamache to fly to British Columbia and inspect totem poles. Priceless antiques sequestered in a hermit?s cabin and sorrowful tales of Czech citizens cheated of their belongings will come to light before Gamache, to his considerable distress, will have to arrest a friend.Penny (A Rule Against Murder, 2009, etc.) is a world-class storyteller. If you don?t want to move to Montreal with Gamache as your neighbor�or better yet, relocate to Three Pines and be welcomed into its community of eccentrics¥you have sawdust in your veins, which must be very uncomfortable.

(2009)The first book I have read in this series. Very well written police procedural. This is all about the characters and Gamache is one of the best I have come across. Here he goes to the small town of Three Pines, Quebec to try to find out who the victim of a murder where he is moved twice in the town. Turns out the murdered man has stolen various pieces of art and treasure from Czech and is using this collection to finance his hermit life in the forest outside of town. A local bistro owner has used this stolen goods to finance his successful rise in the community. But, the impending finding of his cash cow causes him to then kill the Hermit.KIRKUS REVIEWChief Inspector Gamache of the Canadian S?ret? is again called to restore order to the tiny Quebecois hamlet of Three Pines.Olivier and Gabri, gay owners of the Bistro and B&B, insist they that they don't know the dead man and can't imagine how he came to be lying on their floor. That's not quite the truth, but it's merely the setup for the first of many surprises. The real story will unravel for Gamache and his subordinates Beauvoir and Lacoste in startling ways. These include the discovery that the corpse has been moved three times by two different people; the return of a father declared dead over 20 years ago; a word woven into a spider's web; and the disclosure of several wood carvings emanating evil that require Gamache to fly to British Columbia and inspect totem poles. Priceless antiques sequestered in a hermit's cabin and sorrowful tales of Czech citizens cheated of their belongings will come to light before Gamache, to his considerable distress, will have to arrest a friend.Penny (A Rule Against Murder, 2009, etc.) is a world-class storyteller. If you don't want to move to Montreal with Gamache as your neighbor�or better yet, relocate to Three Pines and be welcomed into its community of eccentrics¥you have sawdust in your veins, which must be very uncomfortable.Pub Date: Sept. 22nd, 2009ISBN: 978-0-312-37703-8Page count: 384ppPublisher: MinotaurReview Posted Online: May 20th, 2010Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15th, 2009

Murder shouldn't be funny, but Louise Penny always solicits chuckles from me with her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. I simply adore the gang in Three Pines (makes you want to up and move to this quirky Québec town) and the new characters/inhabitants introduced in this installment. The murder in this one is like a strange game of duck, duck, goose. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/10/2023146-brutal-telling-louise-penny.html ( )

A corpse is found in the bistro in the small town of Three Pines, but no one knows (or admits to knowing) who the victim is. And more importantly, who the murderer is! The book is whole in itself, but more of the story occurs as a major subplot of the next book in the series, Bury Your Dead.
One of the themes is insiders vs outsiders. There is also big focus on art. And as always, there is some Canadiana to be learnt; in this case, regarding native history. This book felt a little longer and more repetitive than prior books in the series, which I have been binging on, so I may be over-saturated. Could there be such a thing as too much Gamache? ( )

Keeps you hooked until the end! ( )

Feb. 2023 reread via audiobook:
3½*
( )

Another stellar outing from Penny and Gamache. Maybe the best one yet, actually. I hate to put spoilers in my reviews, and I almost never do, but I will put a semi-spoiler here, just because I found myself hanging on every page, paragraph and word of this book literally to the very last, hoping that what I was reading wasn't true, that one of the beloved characters of Three Pines hadn't been thrown to (or joined) the wolves. What I did appreciate in this volume was the acknowledgement of the phenomenon of this tiny township being the site or setting for an extraordinary number of crimes, particularly murders. Several times, new or recurring characters mentioned that it seemed odd, or "you wouldn't think so, would you?" was the reaction to a comment about how strange it seemed, to have such a violent crime occur in such a small, close-knit community. Which is something which has often distracted me throughout this series (and others like it). The main subplot, about artists, competitiveness, marriages and prejudices, whose lesson, that doing the right thing results in a positive outcome, seems unusually optimistic for these folks. Of course that particular subplot is only partially resolved, and I look forward to seeing whether Peter and Clara can weather this personal and professional rivalry. I have the feeling that although this case is concluded (most sadly), it is not over. At least, I hope not. Oh, and as a final note, I have to say while I appreciated the introduction of another part of Canada into the narrative, namely the Queen Charlotte Islands, or Haida Gwaii (since I'm from BC), I found the whole mythological thing very dense. Maybe I'm reading too literally lately, but it felt kind of muddy. ( )

In any cozy mystery (if the Three Pines Mysteries can be considered cozy), the members of the inner circle of recurring characters don’t commit crimes. Readers who expect this when starting The Brutal Telling have a rude awakening indeed. This story of human cruelty and forgiveness is one of the best in the series, and is the second title in which Penny challenges the unspoken rule of the innocence of recurring characters. ( )

WTAF? Audio version went on for an hour after an arrest was made. I listened, assuming, naturally, that there would be a surprise reversal. No, just a longer-than-usual sermon. Series seems to be turning into a Canadian version of The Mitford Years, but not as engrossing. Narrator consistently made the characters pronounce the last letter of the alphabet, a big plot feature, as “zee.” This is set in Canada, Ralph.

Loved Ruth & Rosa. ( )

The fifth Three Pines mystery where a man is found dead in the bistro and all the clues point to Olivier as the murderer. There are a lot of twists and turns uncovering long kept secrets. And Olivier ends up in prison. ( )