Synopses & Reviews
Its spring in the tiny, forgotten village of Three Pines.
But not everything is meant to return to life...
When a group of villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil—until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death? Or was the victim somehow helped along?
THE CRUELEST MONTH
Enter Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. He knows evil when he sees it. But this time, hes investigating a case that will force him to face his very own ghosts...as well as those residing in this seemingly idyllic town. Are the residents of Three Pines hiding something great and sinister about their past? Or is April about to deliver on its fateful threat?
“If you dont give your heart to Gamache, you may have no heart to give.”—Kirkus Review (starred review)
“Penny takes exquisite care to create, flesh out, and nurture.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The cozy mystery has a graceful practitioner…in Louise Penny.”—The New York Times
Review
“Certain books come to mind whenever that little voice whispers in your ear ‘Oh, lighten up!… Louise Pennys series about the eccentric residents of a postcard-perfect town in Canada can…be pretty funny.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times
“Who wouldnt be charmed by the dramas of [the Three Pines] community…? Yet it is Pennys fastidious, cultured, and smart Inspector Gamache who makes The Cruelest Month impossible to put down.”—People magazine (3 1/2 stars)
“Perhaps the deftest talent to arrive since Minette Walters, Penny produces what many have tried but few have mastered: a psychologically acute cozy. If you dont give your heart to Gamache, you may have no heart to give.”—Kirkus Review (starred review)
“How much do I love [this] series? So much that I dont merely crave the next installment—I want to live in Three Pines… Let Penny takes exquisite care to create, flesh out, and nurture the relationships in the village and on the police force. I will just have to sulk in the suburbs until she writes the next one.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The thing about the Gamache novels is that while the crimes are intriguing...Gamache [is] completely original.”—Booklist
“Gamache is an engaging, modern-day Poirot...entertaining and thought-provoking.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Expertly plotted.”—Publishers Weekly
“A charming oasis for the spirit...quirky and literate. Move over, Mitford.”—Charlotte Observer
“Rich characterizations, a credible plotline, and an increasingly likable protagonist in Gamache. Add [Pennys] compassion, grace, and wisdom, and readers will rejoice in the latest entry in this stylish and sensitive series.”—Richmond Times Dispatch
“If you arent familiar with…Gamache and the charming town of Three Pines, you are missing something wonderful in the world of mystery fiction.”—Omaha World-Herald
Synopsis
Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie. . . . The book's title is a metaphor not only for the month of April but also for Gamache's personal and professional challenges---making this the series standout so far.
--Sarah Weinman
Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat.
It's spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life. . .
When some villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a seance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil---until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death, or was the victim somehow helped along?
Brilliant, compassionate Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec is called to investigate, in a case that will force him to face his own ghosts as well as those of a seemingly idyllic town where relationships are far more dangerous than they seem.
Synopsis
Its spring in the tiny, forgotten village of Three Pines.
But not everything is meant to return to life...
When a group of villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its eviluntil one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death? Or was the victim somehow helped along?
THE CRUELEST MONTH
Enter Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. He knows evil when he sees it. But this time, hes investigating a case that will force him to face his very own ghosts...as well as those residing in this seemingly idyllic town. Are the residents of Three Pines hiding something great and sinister about their past? Or is April about to deliver on its fateful threat?
“If you dont give your heart to Gamache, you may have no heart to give.”Kirkus Review (starred review)
“Penny takes exquisite care to create, flesh out, and nurture.”Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The cozy mystery has a graceful practitioner…in Louise Penny.”The New York Times
Synopsis
When a group of villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil—until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death? Or was the victim somehow helped along?
Enter Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. He knows evil when he sees it. But this time, hes investigating a case that will force him to face his very own ghosts...as well as those residing in this seemingly idyllic town. Are the residents of Three Pines hiding something great and sinister about their past? Or is April about to deliver on its fateful threat?
About the Author
LOUISE PENNY is The New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of seven novels featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Her debut, Still Life, won the John Creasey Dagger and the Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys Awards, and was named one of the five Mystery/Crime Novels of the Decade by Deadly Pleasures magazine. Penny was the first author ever to win the Agatha Award for Best Novel four times—for A Fatal Grace, The Cruelest Month, The Brutal Telling (which also received the Anthony Award for Best Novel), and Bury Your Dead (which also won the Dilys, Arthur Ellis, Anthony, Macavity, and Nero Awards). She lives in a small village south of Montréal.
Reading Group Guide
Discussion questions for The Three Pines Mysteries, by Louise Penny1. How important is the use of humor in this book?
2. Which Three Pines villager would you most like to have cafe au lait with at the bistro?
3. Why is Ruth a villager?
4 Louise Penny says her books are about murder, but at their heart they're about other things. What else is this book about? What are some other themes?
5. Agent Nichol is an extremely controversial character in the books. What do you think of her? What purpose does she serve? Discussion questions for The Cruelest Month
1. Were told that Three Pines is “only ever found by people lost.” In what way are Peter and Clara, Ruth, Myrna, Gabri and Olivier, and even Gamache and his team of investigators, lost people?2. Early in the story, when Peter is looking at Claras unfinished painting: “He suddenly felt something grab him. From behind. It reached forward and right into him….Tears came to his eyes as he was overcome by this wraith that had threatened all his life. That hed hidden from as a child, that hed run from and buried and denied. It had stalked him and finally found him. Here, in his beloved wifes studio. Standing in front of this creation of hers the terrible monster had found him. And devoured him.” What do you think Peters “monster” is? How does it manifest itself throughout the story? What becomes of the monster in the end?
3. Peter, Ruth and Olivier stay behind when the group heads to the Hadley house for the séance. Discuss these characters and their various reasons for avoiding the house and/or the ritual.
4. What do you think is the difference between magic and miracles?
5. How does the novel's epigraph, from T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land," resonate with the story? What do you think of Peters interpretation of Aprils cruelty: “All those spring flowers slaughtered. Happens almost every year. Theyre tricked into blooming, into coming out. Opening up. And not just the spring bulbs, but the bulbs on the trees….All out and happy. And then boom, a freak snowstorm kills them all.”
6. As the plot proceeds, is it possible to guess or deduce the killer? If so, at what point, and on what grounds?
7. Louise Penny is unusually sensitive to the difficulties of finding love and the struggle to champion it in a harsh world. In The Cruelest Month, the relationships between Odile and Gilles, Hazel and Madeleine, and Clara and Peter, are very different. What does each relationship say about love? Are there any common elements shared by all?
8. How does Gamaches trusting nature, seen by many as his greatest failing, ultimately serve him?
9. “How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another mans eyes,” wrote Shakespeare in As You Like It. Discuss the various manifestations of jealousy in The Cruelest Month. What makes Gamache so much happier than his seemingly more fortunate best friend, Brébeuf?