The Brutal Telling

Author: Louise Penny
Genre: Mystery, Canadian
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 480
Source: Local Public Library
Series: #5 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series
Publisher: Headline
First Published: 2010
Opening Lines: "All of them? Even the children?" The fireplace sputtered and crackled and swallowed his gasp. "Slaughtered?" … "Worse".

Book Description from GoodReads: An ingenious and riveting mystery of murder, revenge and a cold-blooded killer, this is the internationally bestselling author's finest yet.

In the heart of the forest, two men sit at midnight, haunted by fear of discovery. In a few hours' time, one of them will be dead, his secrets following him to the grave... When C. I. Gamache is called to investigate a murder in a picturesque Three Pines, he finds a village in chaos. A man has been found, bludgeoned to death, and there is no sign of a weapon, a motive or even the dead man's name. Gamache and his colleagues, Inspector Beauvoir and Agent Isabelle Lacoste, start to dig under the skin of this peaceful haven for clues. They slowly uncover a trail of stolen treasure, mysterious codes and a shameful history that begins to shed light on the victim's identity - and point to a terrifying killer.

My Rating: 3 stars

My Review: While I liked going back to Three Pines, this fifth installment of the popular Canadian mystery series was slower paced, seemed more complicated than it had to be and had an ending that was less of a surprise and more of a sad conclusion that was eluded to for much of the book. It was okay, but not a great read.

The main pull for me towards this series has always been the inhabitants of Three Pines, a small fictional village south of Montreal which has a penchant for dead bodies.

"'Can't imagine what Gamache thinks of us,' said Myrna. 'Every time he shows up there's a body.'

'Every Quebec village has a vocation,' said Clara. 'Some make cheese, some wine, some pots. We produce bodies.'"

I particularly enjoy the often vulgar and opinionated old poet, Ruth, while others, I'm looking at you Peter, aren't favs of mine. Peter continues to whine about his lack of success while trying to sabotage his wife Clara's burgeoning career which grates on my last frayed nerve. I wouldn't be opposed to him being the next village victim. Just sayin'. Unfortunately, this book focuses less on our favourite inhabitants, and more on the victim, a person the reader has never met.

While not my favourite book in the series, I appreciated learning more about one of our most famous Canadian artists, the beauty and culture of Haida Gwaii and I enjoyed the addition of the new young police investigator into Gamache's ranks to spruce things up a bit.

With its slower paced mystery and a slightly lacklustre Gamache, this wasn't my favourite book in the series. The mystery didn't feel as tightly woven as others and the focus seemed to meander too much which influenced the tension. I also found it frustrating that readers were left with a couple of unanswered questions.

While this book didn't resonate with me as much as others in the series, I remain a Louise Penny fan and look forward to picking up this series once in awhile.