The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (2009 original; edició 2016)

Wow, devastating ending. These are getting progressively darker as the series continues. I am certainly interested where things go for some of the characters in Three Pines. ( )

When a stranger is found dead in Olivier and Gabri's bistro Gamache and his team from Montreal once again find themselves back in Three Pines investigating a murder. This series has built up the world of Three Pines and Inspector Gamache, each novel in the series adding to the place and the characters more and more in each book (I would recommend reading them in order, rather than starting a few books into the series like I did, for a more enjoyable experience). The author weaves a lot into this book: the established denizens of Three Pines, new arrivals and newly introduced residents, Canadian art and contemporary history (Native, Anglo, and French), European history and art, and a hunt for clues that takes Gamache across the entire country, which doesn't overwhelm but together with the descriptive writing, particularly about the buildings, food and art, really draws you into the story. There are a lot of secrets around Three Pines and the characters in this book, some are told in the course of the investigation and their telling makes for a compelling mystery drawing suspicion with them sometimes where no one wants them to go.
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This tale is my favorite so far. The stories seem to have gotten richer as each one is told. Here, there is murder, as is usual for a detective mystery. There is much more though--community, treasure, history, relationships, personal secrets. There is inuendo, poetry, hope, regret, paintings. Things wished for bring both happiness and grief. ( )

Reminder: Two stars at Goodreads means "it was ok," and that's what I mean by it. I don't want to give spoilers, but I was very disappointed in this book, after enjoying others in the series so much. Very long, and an extremely disappointing ending that overshadows everything else that the book did right (great writing, characters I enjoy, a complex and interesting plot). I expected a revelation right up until the very end, and the fact that it didn't come--well, let's just say the book could have had basically the same ending at about the halfway point. And I still would have been mad about it. :( ( )

Unreadable, at least by me. I struggled to page seven before deciding that almost anything else would be a better use of my time. ( )