The Chief Inspector Armand
Gamache series is set in the small village of Three Pines, Quebec near the
Vermont border, where Gamache lives with his wife and a variety of quirky and
lovable characters, all well developed by Penny throughout the series. For such
a quiet, out of the way village, a lot happens here.
In Glass Houses, Gamache has been plucked from retirement to become
the Chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec with the task of ridding the
department of the corruption that has plagued it for years. The book begins
with Gamache on the witness stand in a sweltering courtroom in Montreal’s
Palais de Justice. The reader is told this is a murder trial but the names of
the victim and the defendant aren’t revealed until much later in the story. As
Gamache testifies, the mystery unfolds for the reader. This unique story structure
will not appeal to everyone but I found it refreshing.
It all begins when a tall, hooded,
and masked figure appears in the green of Three Pines’ Village the day after
the annual Halloween party. Gamache and the villagers are at first curious and
then wary as the costumed figure never moves or speaks, all the time staring
ahead at the village bistro. Or is it staring at someone inside? As no laws are
being broken, there is nothing Gamache can do by watch, much to the dismay of
his fellow villages. Gamache is correct that the figure has deep roots in the
past and is there for some dark purpose. That purpose is to collect a debt of
conscience. As its purpose becomes know, each of the villagers must examine his
or her conscience. Is the masked figure there for them?
When the figure vanishes after
four days and the body is discovered in the church basement, Gamache must discover
who the figure was trying to shame. At the same time Gamache is overseeing a
complex investigation into Canadian drug cartels and struggling with his own conscience
about the decisions he has made. Little does he know, his two cases will
collide and bring him right back to that quite, little village.
Penny writes each Gamache book
to stand on its own and I had no problem following the story without having
read any of the other titles in the series.
4.32 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on
Amazon.
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