And Chef Veronique turns out to be a Canadian national treasure – a former nun and celebrity chef with a highly popular cooking show back in the day. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the homicide division of the Montreal Surete and his wife, Reine-Marie, are on vacation. The murder investigation becomes a journey through history, memories, broken relationships, bitter sibling rivalry, childhood hardships and buried secrets.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their wedding anniversary by staying at Manoir Bellechasse, a luxurious inn with a bucolic setting.

However, Penny purposefully restricts information that would allow a reader to discover the identity of the killer.

He tells Daniel that life is hard enough without giving a child a name that will lead to abuse or bullying. When Julia Martin, the angry daughter ostracized by her family since her teen years when she was shamefully embarrassed by some awkward teenage misogynistic graffiti, was crushed underneath a newly commissioned statue of her father, it is obvious that the murder was committed by someone in the hotel. Bean seems to be doing fine despite the scare, and the Gamaches feel certain that this wonderful yet strange child will thrive.David is grief stricken, but he also reveals an interesting secret that defined the hatred that Peter felt for his sister. They enjoy delicious food prepared by Chef Véronique Langlois; stroll through the picturesque grounds; relax; and engage in polite conversation and nightly bridge games with the other guests. Reine-Marie and Gamache follow her, and through her tears, she tells them she’ll probably have to leave first thing in the morning: “They’ll never forgive me, you know. Other characters in the story include Madame Clementine Dubois - owner of the Manoir Bellechasse; maître d' Pierre Patenaude - a long-time employee who runs an impeccable dining room and trains the wait staff; Elliot Byrne, a new waiter who's insolent to Pierre and makes fun of the guests behind their backs; Colleen, a young gardener; Yves Pelletier - the sculptor who created the statue of Charles Morrow; and several residents of Three Pines, including the innkeeper Gabri and the disgruntled poet Ruth and her duck Rosa. It’s not Colleen, she wouldn’t make the mistake of gardening around the sugar covered pedestal if she had been the one to spread it on the marble.

Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series continues to get better as I binge my way through the collection. In this 4th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the Canadian detective investigates a very puzzling case. Gamache and Daniel make peace, and Armand and Reine-Marie look forward to the day they will meet their grandchild. Since he came from Julia’s area of Vancouver, I felt that it was as likely as not that his parents had lost a lot of money in Julia’s husband’s Madoff/pyramid scheme.The children (Marianna, Julia, Thomas and Peter—the recurring artist character married to annoying Clara) grew up competing for their father’s love and attention. In a heart-stopping climax, Gamache, the murderer, and Bean are at the top of the steep copper roof of the Manoir. Louise Penny plays with duality, and in A Rule Against Murder we see the juxtaposition of the unnatural within the natural.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec is celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary. Armand Gamache was his usual charming self and this time his charming wife was very much in evidence too. Clara came to the reunion to protect Peter from this horrid family, but that becomes difficult when Peter seems to regress in their presence, almost not in control of his own voice anymore—which is a source of at least one fight between the couple while they’re there.The more I re-listen, in this case, the more I’m convinced — in her very first description of Mariana, LP uses the word “ugly”, a word she uses often to describe Mr. The relentless philosophizing and moralizing of this novel is distracting and seems to control the plot rather than complement it.