Set in the art world just outside of Montréal, this book is
a fascinating mystery. Clara Morrow is set to have a solo
art exhibit at the Musée d'Art Contemporain in Montréal, and
numerous friends, family members, and art critics have
gathered. Although nervous, she gracefully accepts the
accolades, while her husband Peter (also an artist) stands
by. However, the next morning, a woman's body is found in
the Morrow's garden in the neighboring village of Three Pines.
Although the woman is in a dress that practically screams
for attention, nobody recalls seeing her. Once her face is
revealed, Clara realizes that she knows who she is --
Lillian Dyson, an art critic with whom she was a childhood
friend but hasn't spoken to in years because of a falling
out during their art college days. Lillian certainly
hadn't been invited to the event.
Because Lillian made a name for herself writing scathing,
vitriolic reviews that tended to end artists careers, there
seems to be no shortage of suspects. But the question
remains as to how Lillian knew about the event in the first
place and why she would come when there was no love lost
between her and Clara.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his second-in-command,
Inspector Jean Guy Beauvouir, investigate this case; all
while navigating the art scene and its nuances. Assisting
them is Agent Isabelle Lacoste, who often gets stuck with
the behind-the-scenes busy work. The investigation takes
Gamache and Beauvouir inside the world of AA, where they
begin uncovering another layer of secrets to unravel.
I felt that this book took awhile to get off the ground.
However, it really picked up speed and I was
completely hooked. The author has a writing style that is
lyrical and beautiful. Because the story is set outside of
Montréal, much of the characters' dialogue is sprinkled with
French. While I could generally pick up from context what
they meant, there were times when I looked up some of the
French words, which I found a little cumbersome as I feel
fiction should be able to be read by itself.
I should note that frequent references were made to an event
which took place in an earlier book. While I was
able to cobble together the overall gestalt of what
happened, I feel that it could have been explained better
for those jumping into the middle of the series.
The mystery itself was done well. There were plenty of
suspects, and while one suspect was a bit too obvious (so I
never counted that person as serious suspect), there were
times when I changed my mind as to who the killer could have
been, which always pleases me.
"Penny has been compared to Agatha Christie [but] it sells
her short. Her characters are too rich, her grasp of nuance
and human psychology too firm...." —Booklist (starred review)
“Hearts are broken,” Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a
book. “Sweet relationships are dead.”
But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding
hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines,
shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the
famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head
of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny
Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered,
and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow
and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every
smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship
there hides a broken heart. And even when facts are slowly
exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if
what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the
light.
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