R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 4/26/2017 + 1438 more book reviews

I really liked the first book and this one is quite good as well. In fact, it won an Agatha Award. However, as I've read these books (which I've read out of sequence) I have found that a series centered in a small Canadian town loses its hold on what might be as the stories continue to roll out. Normally, I really enjoy a good series but having grown up in a small town I understand what really happens in such places. Few people die and very few deaths were with murderous intent. (None during my life in small town America.) However, given that this is fiction I will focus on the fictional aspect.

This novel begins with how Two Pines residents celebrate Easter. The chocolate eggs hidden for the children have been consumed by bears so the populace decided to make wooden eggs which everyone decorates to hide. The children search for the new Easter eggs and turn them in for the chocolate ones they adore. Meanwhile some of the adults decide to hold a seance which leads the reader into a mystery surrounding a murder.

For me, Gamache is a charming and interesting character and Ruth Zardo is a hoot. Many small towns do have eccentric characters like her. And, who can't love the gay innkeepers? But few small towns have as many eccentrics as Three Pines seems to have. Of course, the seance is the beginning of murder once again in Three Pines. The author builds suspense by unveiling the emotions both of people involved in the seance and those who are not for various reasons. But when a murder occurs during the seance it seems a bit unrealistic. Frightened to death?

All in all, though, I did enjoy the novel. It is worth reading and for those of us who enjoy Gamache we want to see what he will do next so I am rating it four star. After all, it's fiction an who doesn't love a good fiction?

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