Well done, Louise Penny. This was another great read in the Three Pines series.
This book started off slowly and I thought I was going to be disappointed - that's not how it turned out. I really loved it. Its the third in the series and we meet some new residents of Three Pines as well as old friends. Easter has come and the villagers are organising an egg hunt for the children. For the adults, things take a spooky turn when they organise a séance with a visiting psychic/witch called Jeanne. They go up to the old Hadley House to contact the dead. This was very well done and believable and someone actually ends up dead. Inspector Gamache and his team turn up to try to find out who did it. In this book, we get the whole story about the sordid Arnot affair and Gamache's part in it (this story begins in book 1 and 2). His team will each be tested to the full - their loyalties, their rivalries, their belief in him. Gamache will find out a horrible truth and his life will be changed forever. This Arnot story plays out alongside the day to day worries and concerns amongst the villagers and the hunt for the killer. It made a very enjoyable read. In places I laughed out loud. In the closing passages I didn't let my own family to interrupt me because the pages were so tense and so emotional. Well done, Louise Penny. (P.S. You can check out all my 2019 book reviews - here) Ann Girdharry is an Award winning author of the Kal Medi crime thriller series.
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The twenty-year old remains of Tracy’s sister are going to let us know all their secrets...
Years ago Tracy’s sister went missing and was never found. A man was convicted of her murder. Tracy is now a policewoman in Seattle and when her sister’s body turns up on an isolated hillside, she goes back to her hometown to find out the truth. The small town feel of this story appealed to me and I liked the main characters – especially the Sheriff and the local law men, and Tracy’s (now deceased) father. Tracy herself was a bit of a less well drawn character. We know her through her loss and her memories of her sister, and her drive to find the truth. We also get glimpses of Tracy’s current life as a police officer in Seattle, and the team she works with, but they don’t come much in to this story. I guess this is to set-up the rest of the series. The twenty-year old remains of Tracy’s sister are going to let us know all their secrets. One by one we suspect all the main characters of having taken part in some kind of conspiracy. Why was Edmund House, a convicted rapist, so easily condemned when the evidence against him was so minor? And why has the body only come to light now, so many years later? I enjoyed the ride. Even the romance, between Tracy and an old school friend, worked for me – and I often don’t like romances stuffed into thriller books. I also enjoyed the winter setting and the last few chapters which take part in a snow storm and see the main characters split up and working alone against the freezing temperatures and against the clock and - against the killer. A great book. Ann Girdharry is the Award winning author of the Kal Medi crime thriller series. Six teenage friends go to the woods and only five come home. Despite an extensive search, the missing girl, Aurora, is never found.
We pick up the story thirty years later, when the body of Aurora is found close to the teenager’s original campsite. It’s a great set-up and was looking forward to a twisty, chilling ride. I have to say I was a tad disappointed. As we got to know the five friends, I kept getting the three boys mixed up. I think this was because they were all a bit shallow and tended to blur together. The girls were easier to tell apart and one of them I really liked and she comes out well in the end – but I can’t say much without giving the ending away. Unfortunately, I didn't really like the police officer leading the investigation. He knew the group who went missing and has a shady secret of his own which we keep getting heavy hints about. This heavy hinting started to get a bit tedious. When we finally discover who the killer was, I thought the final reveal could have been assigned to any of the five characters. (Sorry to say this because I really don't like not giving a good review). The writing style was good but I don’t think the plot fulfilled on its promise. My thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this book. This is my honest review. |
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