Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 3/13/2018 + 1182 more book reviews

Another very good entry in the Three Pines series by Penny. This is the third in the series that I have read after Still Life and The Cruelest Month, but second in sequence. I am really enjoying this series and it is fun getting to know the characters in the quaint village of Three Pines located in Quebec close to the U.S. border. In this one, a very despicable and self-centered woman named CC de Poitiers is electrocuted during a curling match on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas). This woman was disliked by seemingly everyone in Three Pines so when Chief Inspector Gamache arrives on the scene, there appears to be a lot of potential suspects for her murder. Poitiers was a wannabe self-help guru who was abusive to most everyone but especially to her husband and overweight daughter, Crie. As the story progresses, we learn more about the residents of Three Pines especially Clara who is a talented artist and whose talent seems to make her husband jealous even though he is a well-respected artist himself. But who could have killed CC? A lot of false leads ensue but all is made clear by the end. This novel also hints at some fallout from an older case of Gamache's and resentment by others on the police force. This is more fully explained in the next book, The Cruelest Month.

I really am enjoying this series including the atmosphere of the small village in Quebec along with learning new things and words used there such as toque, a close-fitting knitted hat, often with a tassel or pom-pom on the crown. I'll be looking forward to more in this series.

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