Storymusing on The Black Wolf: A Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novel by Louise Penny

 

The Black Wolf

by Louise Penny

Our theme for my book club in February was “Enemies” and this book fits that bill to a T. The question of just who the enemy is, and if there are multiple, reverberates throughout the book.

This is the 20^th book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. Most of the series builds on previous story lines, but Penny does a great job of building in back information so that you won’t feel adrift if you pick up this book out of order.

In the last book, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste thought they had uncovered the extent of a terrible plot to poison the water of Montreal and arrested the responsible parties. But is there more? Did they get the right person? Was that even the end game?

The three are in agreement, We have a problem.

As Gamache’s deafness and the ringing in his ears continue to plague him, clouding both his communication and thinking, he has just two notebooks and a few numbers on a tattered map of Quebec to lead him forward.

The three dig deeper into the evidence they have and what it means. They discover there are deeper layers beneath the dark web of the Internet. Down deep where the conspiracies thrive and multiply, there is more danger than they could have anticipated. And more meanings in the notebooks and map that a young biologist left behind for them.

Chief Inspector Evelyn Tardiff  is clearly meeting with crime boss Don Joseph Moretti and he is clearly involved in every bit of crime his syndicate can control, but where does she really stand?

The prime minster seems to know more than what he is saying and a friend in the U.S. military is also struggling with what to tell them without becoming a traitor to his own country.

Thankfully, Gamache is surrounded by the warmth and love of all his friends and family in the Quebec village of Three Pines. There is definite comic relief here from the elderly poet Ruth Zardo and her swearing duck, Rosa. There’s a parallel quest for clarity in the form of painter Clara Morrow as she attempts to create a painting that captures the moment just before something momentous happens.

As Gamache’s hearing suddenly becomes clear like a moment of insight, the revelations come in fits and starts and backtracks, like a rabbit running around a snowy hillside.

For me, this book tethers us in the village of Three Pines as it explores the darkest part of what conspiracy theories and power brokers are doing. I love the style and pacing of the book. It’s a relaxing read even though the story has a great deal of tension.

I would highly recommend it and I even might read it again, or at least listen to it on audio.

Storymusing - Glory Be: A Glory Broussard Mystery by Danielle Arceneaux

 

Glory Be: A Glory Broussard Mystery

By Danielle Arceneaux

I admit I picked up this book based on the cover and the title, not knowing much about it. It just looked good. I enjoy novels set in the Southern part of the United States and this did not disappoint.

Glory Broussard felt real and relatable, from her tired body due to years working labor intensive jobs to her tired mind from the various difficulties life has thrown at her. She has a number of prescription pill bottles on her bedside table, though she doesn’t often take them, another sign of depression sometimes.

I was amused to find that Glory is running a thriving business as a bookie through a local coffee house. I loved how she insists her clients observe the niceties before sliding the money across the table in an envelope, discreetly. In contrast, she is strongly invested in her church.

Glory is in the coffee shop when she hears that her best friend, Sister Amity Gay, has been found dead. The police seem all too willing to declare it a suicide but there are many red flags that Glory latches onto.

Thankfully, her daughter, a sharp lawyer, is in town. Glory is glad to have her help with the investigation into Amity’s death, not so happy to have her sorting out her house so that it doesn’t get condemned after someone anonymously tells the town it’s a health hazard.

The settings are well chosen and described – including the coffee shop, Glory’s house in town, a house in the country owned by a well-to-do drug lord, a nominally desegregated country club, the church, and an old, abandoned mill.

Most characters are well developed with back stories of their own. Elements are brought to light at appropriate intervals that illuminate each character in a well-planned trajectory. Of course, the murder of Glory’s friend Amity makes Amity a focal point as Glory wonders what her friend was caught up in that led to her death and what Glory might not know about her life. But Glory herself, and her daughter, are revealed through thoughtful interactions with a variety of people plus well-chosen flashbacks.

Racial disparity is a major theme here, with how people are treated when they are victims of a crime and the lack of opportunities for many people. There’s also the insidious nature of the drug culture and the difficulty of getting out of it and staying out of it. An interesting theme for me was the question of why people belong to a church, the connection to others, both emotionally and networking. Another major theme is people craving connection and love.

There is naturally going to be conflict when someone is investigating a murder and Glory is definitely not conflict averse, though she can be politic when she wants to be. There’s a subplot conflict with her sister over Glory’s house that ups the conflict quotient.

There’s a saying that easy reading is hard work to write. This story read extremely smoothly and was easy to take in. The pacing is perfect, keeping the story moving without overwhelming the reader with facts. The overall impact is a cozy read that is relaxing while still tackling some harsh realities.

I will definitely want to read more by this author.

“Danielle Arceneaux is the winner of the Lillian Jackson Braun for her debut mystery, GLORY BE, which was reviewed and chosen as a best mystery of the year by The New York Times and The Washington Post.” – from https://www.danielleatwork.com/new-bio

Storymusing: The Author's Guide to Murder: A Novel by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

 

The Author’s Guide to Murder: A Novel  

by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White 

This novel was unexpected and ended up being funnier than I thought it would be.  I was looking for a murder mystery, liked the title, and needed something for my drive home from work, so I just jumped in.  

The book takes us to Kinloch Castle in Scotland where Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead in a somewhat scandalous tableau. Bit of a wild name, I don’t know many people named for Saffron and Presley always makes me think of Elvis. 

Three American authors are at the castle, ostensibly as a writing retreat to cowrite a novel. Sounds like a fun way to spend some time! 

I loved the way the three are revealed a little bit at a time. At first, they seem like caricatures of genre writers – Cassie Pringle is a sweet Southern writer of cozy mysteries, Kat de Noir is a sharp and sexy erotica writer, while Emma Endicott is a very proper writer of historical novels. They claim to be best friends. 

“We bonded instantly.” 

Nothing could be further from the truth. They barely tolerate each other, and they have no idea of the deeper secrets each is carrying. I enjoyed how their relationships developed and their back stories are revealed to each other, building their friendship over the course of the book. The way each was involved with the murder victim is a developing thread as well, with some things not revealed until close to the end. 

Cassie is the only one who is happily married, though that happiness is shown to be in jeopardy as the plot progresses. However, Emma and Kat are both single, leaving lots of room for romance with a couple of local men. That too begins rather prosaically. One ends that way too, for my money, but the other takes an interesting turn. 

The authors do a marvelous job of doling out the clues and information as the story progresses to keep the readers guessing. I can safely say I didn’t have a clue who the murderer was, which is the way I prefer it. 

The setting of a castle and a Scottish village was interesting, and I thought rather well developed, based on my watching of BBC television, but then maybe people in Scotland would disagree or even take umbrage. It worked for an American who has never been there. 

Overall, I’d call this murder mystery by three authors about three fictional authors highly entertaining.