“Deep and grand and altogether extraordinary….Miraculous.” –The Washington Post “Artful…Powerful…Magical.” – The New York Times Book Review “Superb” – People “A Great Reckoning succeeds on every level.” –St. Louis Post-Dispatch #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny pulls back the layers to reveal a brilliant and emotionally powerful truth in her latest spellbinding novel. When … When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary. It leads the former Chief of Homicide for the Sûreté du Québec to places even he is afraid to go. But must. And there he finds four young cadets in the Sûreté academy, and a dead professor. And, with the body, a copy of the old, odd map. Everywhere Gamache turns, he sees Amelia Choquet, one of the cadets. Tattooed and pierced. Guarded and angry. Amelia is more likely to be found on the other side of a police line-up. And yet she is in the academy. A protégée of the murdered professor. The focus of the investigation soon turns to Gamache himself and his mysterious relationship with Amelia, and his possible involvement in the crime. The frantic search for answers takes the investigators back to Three Pines and a stained glass window with its own horrific secrets. For both Amelia Choquet and Armand Gamache, the time has come for a great reckoning.
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I have enjoyed every one of Ms. Penny’s books, mysteries featuring Inspector Gamache and the French-Canadian village of Three Pines. Part police procedural, part cozy, and a lot character study, her books are wonderfully involving. A Great Reckoning reaches new heights in the Gamache saga, as he sets up a cadet school with both foes and allies as instructors. It can be read on its own, and is even better when you’re acquainted with her other books. Look forward to a great reading experience.
I recently read (devoured) ” A Great Reckoning” by Louise Penny and just loved it. I have read every book in the Three pines series and like so many of my fellow Louise Penny fans, wish I could go home to Three Pines too. I love the series and all the cast of characters but it could easily be read as a stand alone.
Armand Gamache has cleaned the corruption from within the Surete du Quebec and retired to his new home in Three Pines a small and remote village in Quebec. He comes out of retirement to become the new head of the police academy, determined to clean up the corruption that remains there still. When one of the professors is murdered, it’s up to Gamache and Jean Guy, his long time second in command and now his son in law to find the killer. It’s clear that the killer is someone who was living and working at the academy so there is no time to lose.
It is a well written book full of intrigue and plenty of twists. I highly recommend this book. If you love a good mystery, you won’t be disappointed.
Oh, my gosh. What do you say about the finest mystery writer of our time, Louise Penny? I discovered her first one, Still Life, at the local library. I was looking for a mystery and I picked it up, and then I went home to read and couldn’t put it down. She writes in the Agatha Christie style, invites you to love the weirdest characters ever, and understands the reality that human beings are complex and that good and evil exists in all of us. Her new book comes out every August and I pre-order as soon as it is advertised. And when I’m done, I hold the book to my heart which aches, because I know there won’t be another one for a whole year.
I just finished A Great Reckoning last night, and I stayed up until I was done because I had to have the answer to one question (no, not who killed the horrible and sadistic Serge Leduc, a teacher at the Surete Academy which Gamache now runs): who is Amelia’s father? Needless to say, I guessed wrong! But let me start from the beginning: A Great Reckoning begins with Armand Gamache having taken over running the Surete Police Academy after he realizes that it’s full of the same corruption that rotted the Surete itself. He fires a bunch of teachers, but keeps on a man named Serge Leduc, who is a horrendous human being and who, Gamaches realizes, was involved in illicit wheeling and dealing involving the building of the new Surete school in a town not far from Three Pines. Serge Leduc despises Gamache as much as Gamache despises him. So, when Leduc ends up dead, the apparent victim of a shot to the temple meant to look like suicide, Gamache is not only on the scene to discover whodunit, but he’s also a suspect. He goes behind Isabelle Lacoste’s back to have an officer from the RCMP brought in to aid in the investigation, supposedly as an impartial agent. Isabelle is not thrilled by this, but she realizes Gamache must have a reason. Four young cadets at the academy are suspects as well, one of whom is named Amelia, the same name as Gamache’s mother who was killed (along with his dad) in a car accident when he was a boy. Suffice it to say, the investigation into Leduc’s death also involves a strange map of Three Pines and the face of a young man in the stained glass window of the Three Pines chapel (yes, there are always so many wonderful storylines tying together everything in Penny’s books). I had my suspicions about who killed Leduc, and I wasn’t far from wrong. But I was dead wrong in my guess about the mystery of Amelia’s parentage, and that was a nice twist.
All in all, a superior story with a pleasantly happy ending for one of these Gamache books!
Great. Googly. Moogly.
B
O
O
K
H A N G O V E R.
Big.
Time.
Book.
Hang.
Over.
I thought we had dealt with all of this in a past book. Nope. Not even remotely. Lets drag it all out and ADD TO IT and just make that pain worse [though I never thought she could write a character I despised as much as Francour; boy-howdy, was I wrong. {Shudder} ] and just drag the reader [and Armand Gamache] through the wringer. Whoosh.
And when a few things clicked into place [and mind you, this NEVER happens in these books – If I EVER guess anything that turns out to be correct, it is only because I had some previous knowledge of something the author mentions and that helps me along] I was gobsmacked. All because I knew a movie. WHOOOOOOSH. I certainly didn’t get it all [thankfully] and the end was another gobsmack moment and WOW.
I cannot state how much I love these books and how difficult it is to write any kind of review because there is just SO MUCH and one tiny bit could give so much away. Louise Penny writes in such a way that NO WORD is wasted and everything means something, even when you think it cannot possibly mean something. Everything. Which makes writing a review nigh impossible. I don’t even read the blurbs about the book before diving in because I need to go in with a clean slate so-to-speak. So you will just have to trust me [and a billion other readers of her books] when I say this is AMAZING and you just need to dive in yourself.
I am now off to get on the wait list for the next one. Someday, I will get to own these. Someday.
This is one of the best series ever. She is an exceptional author whom I adore reading. Highly recommend, but suggest you start at the beginning of the series and read in order as each book builds on the last.
I want to live in Three Pines and experience the tranquility of that place. Another good read by Louise Penny connecting characters with events and places. Gamache with his analytical brain and command of others is able to solve a mystery and crime and bring out the best and worst in some less than savory characters.
This was the first book I ever pre-ordered because I simply could. not. wait. for this book to come out. I love the Inspector Gamache series.
This is the last in the series. You REALLY NEED to read them in order. Everything will make so much more sense if you read them in order. Like the best mysteries, it keeps you guessing until the end. And when the end comes, you will NOT be expecting it.
Louise Penny has led us into the lives of Chief Inspector Gamache and the villagers of Three Pines in her books. This book reflects on the historical impacts of European wars on the residents of our continent. Her tales are intriguing, amusing, and show the battle of good vs. evil.
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
Always an enjoyable mystery and visit with Inspector Gamache.
I love Louise Penny’s books. I have read them all. They just keep getting better and better.
All her books are wonderful. The lead character is charming
Recommend all Louise Penny books, and it helps to read them in the order written. You will fall in love with Three Pines and the characters, as well as the story. Can’t wait for the new one each autumn!
Like any of the Louise Penny books, this one has you holding your breath as you turn each page. The more of her books you read, the more attached you become to the collection of unique citizens of Three Pines. This book does not disappoint.
I love this series of books. The characters are all very real and fun to watch as the story develops. All of her books are a joy!
I have read all of Louise Penney’s books. They are inspiring, interesting, full of wisdom and beautiful words. Louise Penney makes you think while she inspires.
Love this series and author, preorder all her books
Love the entire series. Start at the beginning.
Her Gamache series is simply great. This was an interesting one in the sense as it mostly occurred in a school for cadets with Gamache as the headmaster.