Murder, and flooding, in Quebec

Louise Penny has written a series of books about her Canadian detective Inspector Armand Gamache. These are set in and around Quebec and particularly in a village called Three Pines where Gamache and his wife eventually come to live. I have read quite a few of the series but I have not read them in order so I haven’t always grasped the overarching story. This proved a bit of a problem when I read A Better Man which is the fifteenth volume.

In this book Gamache has lost his job as head of the Surete (the police service of Quebec) because of events which happened in a previous book. In return the faceless authorities and politicians have offered him the role as head of homicide where he will have to work as a subordinate to his previous partner and son in law – no one really expected him to take up this role but he did. Ignoring the reasons why this demotion happened and why so many people seem to hate Gamache the author does a great job of showing us the embarrassment and difficulties colleagues have when Gamache turns up to work in his new role. The book also has lots of social media postings by both supporters and those who revile him.

Very quickly Gamache is asked to investigate a missing woman whose father is very anxious about her apparent disappearance, although her partner is not. There is also flooding in the area of the crime and at Three Pines and Gamache has to investigate while trying to avoid physical danger.

The story in this book is an interesting one and the solution is complex. I enjoyed the puzzle and also the descriptions of the floods and the damage that it does to the landscape and the danger that various characters encounter. It didn’t really matter that much that I didn’t fully understand what was going on with the larger story because when there were developments in that the author was careful to make it clear what importance they had.

Gamache is an engaging character. He is wise and clever and subtle. He always does what is right irrespective of the cost to him or others, although this does not mean that he does not make mistakes. He is surrounded by people who are a little more human and often very eccentric and as you read the books in this series you come to know them and their quirks very well.

I always enjoy one of these books and I recommend the series but one day I shall have to read them in order to find out why people in his own department hate Gamache so much.