INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA December 2018 Indie Next Pick One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2018 PicksBookPage Best of the Year 2018 A LibraryReads Pick for November 2018 A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Winner Washington Post’s 10 Books to Read This NovemberOne of PopSugar’s Best Fall Books to Curl Up With“A captivating, wintry whodunit.” —PEOPLE“A constantly surprising series that deepens and … With
“A captivating, wintry whodunit.” —PEOPLE
“A constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
Kingdom of the Blind, the new Chief Inspector Gamache novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder.
None of them had ever met the elderly woman.
The will is so odd and includes bequests that are so wildly unlikely that Gamache and the others suspect the woman must have been delusional. But what if, Gamache begins to ask himself, she was perfectly sane?
When a body is found, the terms of the bizarre will suddenly seem less peculiar and far more menacing.
But it isn’t the only menace Gamache is facing.
The investigation into what happened six months ago—the events that led to his suspension—has dragged on, into the dead of winter. And while most of the opioids he allowed to slip through his hands, in order to bring down the cartels, have been retrieved, there is one devastating exception.
Enough narcotic to kill thousands has disappeared into inner city Montreal. With the deadly drug about to hit the streets, Gamache races for answers.
As he uses increasingly audacious, even desperate, measures to retrieve the drug, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there.
more
Easy mystery.
5 stars
This is another remarkable entry into the Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvior, Detective Isabelle LaCoste and the gang from Three Pines series.
This story runs on two differing lines, one of a mysterious will and the other an heroic attempt to stop a highly dangerous drug from reaching the streets of Montreal.
When Armand and Myrna (a bookshop owner), of Three Pines and a young man named Benedict from Montreal receive letters in the mail naming them the (executors) of a will they are surprised. None of the three people knew the woman. The will itself is rather odd, too. It mentions a fortune, houses overseas and other rather odd bequests. But the woman named Mrs. Baumgartner who calls herself “the Baroness” who was in reality a cleaning lady in Three Pines believes what she is saying in the will. Is she a little confused? Perhaps downright deranged?
At the same time, Armand is called into the office while he is on suspension for letting a large amount of drugs get by him in the last book. One of his proteges has been caught with an amount of drugs in her locker at work. A former junkie and a prostitute herself she is fired as a result. But there turns out to be for more to this story of which the reader is not yet aware.
As Armand, his wife and the Three Pines gang try to track down Mrs. Baumgartner’s history to check the accuracy of her assertions in her will, Armand gets to know Benedict better and likes the young man.
When a body shows up in a collapsed house, the ruling is murder. Armand and Jean-Guy meet with the relatives. Coincidentally, they are the surviving children of Mrs. Baumgartner.
This is a very good book. It is well written and plotted as are all of Ms. Penny’s novels. I really like the way she inserts philosophical observations in her stories. Her grasp of psychology is accurate and written very nicely into her books. Her main characters are always self-aware and questioning their motives and the subsequent actions that spring from those motives. Very well done!! I can’t wait to read the next in this series. I am a Louise Penny addict for sure!
Told me about Quebec and Montreal; people there face the same temptations with the same human responses as here in central USA. We need to follow our hearts to try to find sanity and purpose and family. We need to love our fellow humans even when they push us away and even if their action or words make them undeserving of love or protection or help. The person you might least expect help from might turn out to have the wisdom you both might need for survival. Louise Penny made a vivid story of survival from a story that starts with an odd invitation to an old country house somewhere near Three Pines of Montreal, and concludes near dirty streets of the drug abusers and prostitutes back in Inspector Gamache wonderful loving tolerant home, with loyal, odd, interesting neighbors.
Each year I look forward to Louise Penny’s newest book. She didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved this book and the continuation of the Chief Inspector Gamache story. She writes page turners as well as great descriptions of small village life. Can’t wait for the next book.
It took me a while to warm up to this novel. Even fifty or sixty pages in, I was uncertain whether I wanted to continue reading. This might be reading burn-out rather than a fault of the book; I don’t know. But around page 100, things picked up and I enjoyed the rest of the story.
What I enjoyed:
1. A sense of community.
Honestly, I don’t read Penny’s novels for the mystery. I don’t care one iota who killed whom. It’s the relationships between the characters that matters to me. I think many passionate Penny fans would agree that we love the sense of community in these books, and we love feeling included in that community of Three Pines, with its endearing, imperfect, and quirky inhabitants. We feel like we belong.
2. The depth of the relationships
Like all long-term relationships, there’s a history that lies under the surface of all the actions and dialogue. The banter feels natural and genuinely affectionate. But it might be difficult for those new to the series to jump in and understand the subtext, written over years of relationships, that under-girds the group dialogues.
Can you read Kingdom of the Blind as a stand-alone?
Good question.
This novel directly builds on what happened in a previous novel that led to Gamache’s suspension from the Surete. Unless you read previous novels, it might be difficult to understand why Gamache made the choices he did, and why he’s making the choices he’s making now. You won’t understand the relationship between Gamache and Amelia Choquet, either.
However, this aspect is only part of the novel. There’s the actual will/murder/whodunit aspect, too. Those new to the series can still enjoy that. Just be aware that there’s a long history behind Gamache’s suspension.
This is another solid book in a terrific series. It’s not my favorite–that’s a toss-up between Bury Your Dead, The Beautiful Mystery, or How the Light Gets In–but it’s still really good. I was worried that Penny wouldn’t write anymore Gamache mysteries after her husband’s recent death, and as she writes in the acknowledgments, she thought she couldn’t either. He was the inspiration for Gamache; he was also a partner in her work. Yet eventually, she wrote Kingdom of the Blind, “Not because I had to, but with joy. Because I wanted to.” (pg 387).
I have to say, I have read many, many acknowledgments sections in books. Most express thanks. A few express entitlement or arrogance. (Those authors are, thank goodness, in the minority!) Yet few express as much gratitude, thanksgiving, and joy as Louise Penny. This sense of joy imbues her work. I’m grateful to have found her books.
This book is difficult to describe because it is so exceptionally marvelous. Her characters are very three (and occasionally four) dimensional, and become more real with each book. Her prose is just lovely without being overdone (which can in other authors ‘ hands slow down the story). The storyline itself is believable and yet unexpected.
Another wonderful mystery by Louise Penny! Gamache, Reine-Marie, Jean Guy, Annie and the villagers of Three Pines are back for yet another evocative journey into both the darkness and the evils of this world and the lightness and joy of family and community.
I have yet to read anything by Louise Penny that wasn’t thoroughly entertaining. Just wonderful.
Who isn’t in love with Chief Inspector Gamache?l
It is always a surprise to find the final twist is nothing expected or even considered.
Always thoughtful.
Louise Penny is always a great read
I love it
Louise Penny is an incredible writer with a seemingly never-ending supply of interesting and well-fleshed out characters in always readable situations.
Louise Penny is a superb writer of the great highs and lows that everyone goes through in life.
We are back in Three Pines with Myrna, Clara, Gabri and even Rosa, the duck. My heart takes it all in. The Inspector, his wife, Jean-Guy, and even wounded Isabelle are back and still reeling from their last case. Please read her last book to really enjoy this one, but you certainly can read this one alone. Her characters are so deeply human, with their own personal quirks.
The book revolves around the last case but is also presenting the Inspector, Myrna and a new young man, Benedict, with a will, a dead woman and her family’s past. There is introspection, the what ifs, the recriminations and past jealousy and all taking place as the snow falls and blankets the town. There is murder, a solid plot, an old case that involves drugs and Amelia, Gamache’s personal project and hope for the future.
But let’s not forget the laugh out loud humor and situations these friends get into. Planning a snow run in town becomes a run in the nude or swimsuits in the brutal cold.
Family, community and friends are what make this book so special. When several people are worn down, they all remember, one must look at the joy around them, a baby’s laugh, the smell of grass, a hug and then you can regroup and move on. The Inspector remembers Ruth comforting Isabel in the last book, hugging her and saying, “You are loved” over and over again. In Three Pines, you are loved.
There are many beginnings for new characters and possible endings, too. The fierce winter weather was a large part of the story, so get ready to feel the cold and snow! While more of the story of the Three Pines characters is revealed, we never lose sight of Gamache and his investment in the outcome.
5+ stars!! Kingdom of the Blind is the latest episode in the Armand Gamache series. It is an immediate continuation of the previous novel, Glass Houses, wherein Chief Superintendent Gamache made a singular decision about how to capture a ring of drug smugglers. While Kingdom of the Blind can be read as a standalone, it is best appreciated in the context of what had just happened at the ending of Glass Houses in order to understand why Gamache is so determined to deal with the consequences of his decision. In a parallel story, there is a murder that takes place after the reading of a will, and Beauvoir, now Chief Inspector of Homicide, must figure out the perpetrator and the motive.
While each novel in this series contains a murder, these books are not simply mysteries to be solved, but present an ongoing character study of Gamache, Beauvoir, Lacoste, and all the residents of Three Pines. This is a series best read from the first book, Still Life wherein we first meet these and other characters and see the many decisions that Gamache must face, first as Chief Inspector of Homicide and later as Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec. There are changes and growth in the interaction of all the characters. Over the course of this series, Louise Penny’s descriptive writing has allowed me feel as if I myself were a member of the Three Pines community, sharing in their joys and sorrows. This has got to be one of my very favorite series.
Exceptional
I love this book. Seems like every book by Louise Penny is better than the last.
Louise Penny is the author of a series of mysteries about the magical village of Three Pines in Quebec, Canada. She is a delight to read, and her books keep getting better and better!
The most recent, KINGDOM OF THE BLIND, has recently been nominated for an Agatha and a Lefty by the Left Coast Crime convention in the Western U.S.
KOTB is both a mystery and a celebration of community, as the members of Three Pines work together and eat together and look out for each other. When the blizzard blows fierce, they eat and drink and stay warm together. When it stops snowing, they dig each other out, and of course connect the snow tunnels to the local bistro!
There is an eccentric poet with a pet duck, an artist, a former psychologist who would much rather run a bookstore, and of course the glue that holds them all together, Armand Gamache, the head of security for Quebec.
What I liked about KOTB was the amazing contrast the author presented between this idyllic village and the absolute hell of addiction faced by dwellers close by, who would sell their souls for a taste of the deadly carfentanil. Gamache is faced with a dilemma of sacrificing the one for the good of the many, and he suffers the consequences.
Look for the many hidden references to the theme in the book’s title, and consider rereading it, once you have reached the end. THEN, all of the subtle hints will be revealed!
Well written with a twisty plot.
Inspector Gamache stories are always great.