The Great Gamache in Old Quebec

There are novels with heroes so perfect or predictable it ruins the book for me. I even find myself cringing while reading the synopsis of a new Gray Man, Mitch Rapp or Jack Ryan novel. I think that's why I fell in love with Harry Hole and Dept Q and now Armand Gamache.

Gamache, however, is remarkably different than Hole and Carl Mork. They are as belligerent, arrogant, self destructive and unpredictable as they are brilliant. Inspector Gamache is highly respected and revered by his family, peers, subordinates and superiors. He too is brilliant, but we are made privy to where and from whom it comes from. He is not an island. There's two other characteristics that make him so uniquely different for a lead detective, he is remarkably humble and vulnerable.

In Bury Your Dead, Gamache is on leave after suffering injury and PTSD from a recent case that ended violently and tragically. The details of this case are masterfully weaved around two separate murders revealed throughout the novel. To recooperate he's vacationing at the home of his retired mentor in Quebec while researching his first love, French Canadien history. A murdered man is discovered in the basement of the research library where Gamache studies. Given his reputation he is reluctantly drawn into the investigation.

And there's a nagging doubt about a previous mutrder in Three Pines that forces him to send back a key member of his team to quietly reopen the case. In this way, once again, we are brought into the remarkable lives of the villagers of Three Pines.

As always there's much more than murder afoot. Do yourself a favor and read this book!

35 people found this helpful

A mini-masterpiece.

I've enjoyed the opportunity to experience Louise Penny's growth as an author with the Three Pines mysteries. Each book in this series gets better, and this one is a small masterpiece of construction, characterization and plot. I was completely entranced. Penny shows us the (for most of us) unfamiliar culture of Quebec, while also delving deeper into the central personalities that inhabit each of these novels. Armand Gamache is one of those rare characters that we want to spend time with, and he is complemented by his temperamental second-in-command. Unlike the other books in the series, (which are really cozy mysteries in the classic style) this one surprises with its violent, dramatic climax, told in a series of wrenching flashbacks. Mystery novels don't get much better than this!

The reader is wonderful too.

10 people found this helpful

Another great tale!

When I discovered Armand Gamache, I was hooked. Something about his wisdom and inner peace along with an acute intelligence just made me want to know him more and more. Having read all the previous books, I feel this one meets all expectations. I was hooked from beginning to end and can't wait for the next one to come out.
The additional clip of an interview with Louise Penny was wonderful too. It was so great to hear her love of the characters and places and the fact that she sees the characters grow just as I do.

20 people found this helpful

The English vs. the French in Quebec

I was looking through my Audible library recently and found that I did not have Chief Inspector Gamache/three Pines Book 6 BURY YOUR DEAD. I had all other of Louise Penny's novels. After finishing listening to it I believe it is my favorite of the 15 novel series. Louise Penny and Karin Slaughter are my favorite modern detective novel writers. I love Penny's marvelous bevy of repeat characters.

7 people found this helpful

Tour de force

Louise Penny continues to excel with each novel. This latest in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series is a tour de force. It's a complicated story, with essentially four narratives running parallel and often intersecting. There is the current murder to solve, that of an historian in the basement of the Literary and Historical Society. There is the previous mystery from Three Pines: that of the hermit in the woods, for which Olivier was convicted and sent to prison. And there is the shared experience of a case gone horribly wrong, an experience shared by Beauvoir and Gamache. While Gamache tries to solve the historian's murder, Beauvoir is in Three Pines to covertly and unofficially re-open the case of the previous murder. And while each man is on his separate journey, each remembers with well-placed flashbacks the case that almost killed them both. The flashbacks are an excruciating but pleasurable tease for the reader, because you don't know until near the very end what actually happened to Gamache and Beauvoir. Penny's deftly interlaces the flashbacks with current action, and Beauvoir's trip to Three Pines gives the reader some necessary comedic relief from the horror that is revealed through his memories. Cosham's narration is excellent as always. I am thoroughly spoiled by him, and hope that he will continue to narrate Penny's future Gamache novels.

12 people found this helpful

another wonderful tale

I am completely hooked on this series, in love with the characters, fascinated by the world that Louise Penny has created. This novel also offers a lot of Quebec history and we spend time in one of my favorite places - Quebec City, particularly the old walled city. I enjoyed the interwoven plots -- 3 of them -- and the further development of both Gamache's and Beauvoir's characters. I was a bit frustrated with the extensive recap of a previous story -- that usually drives me crazy in series. Here, though there's enough that's new that it's not all repetition. Most of all, I love Penny's exploration of the human heart. So many wonderful insights about grief and loss and love and hate. I like that her characters have depth and complexity. But they're also reliable -- Ruth, Clara, Gabri, Myrna. How I wish I could sit with them all in front of the fire at the Bistro and eat some of that amazing food that Penny is always writing about. Her books make me hungry - for more! Can't wait to download the next one.

5 people found this helpful

Ms. Penny writes a wonderful mystery story

I could not stop listening so for over 12hrs almost 13hrs. I was on Ms. Penny's wonderful mystery adventure. I like to check in with the residents of Three Pines to hear what exciting things are happening in the nice quite village that always has a murder to solve. This is a great addition to the Three Pines series.

10 people found this helpful

The Best!

Best in the series so far. They are all wonderful, but this one... Wow! FYI- you don’t have to read them in order but the character development is so well done and you can follow the lives of them like they are personal friends.

3 people found this helpful

Will it ever end?

Too much Quebec history—dry. Too little solving the death of the hermit. Heartbreaking tale of relationship tween Inspector and one of his agents.
Glad to move on .

2 people found this helpful

A Big Payoff in an Execellent Series

Where does Bury Your Dead rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

For fans of Penny's Three Pines series, this book pays off in a big way. If you are new to the series, don't - I repeat don't - start with this book. If you don't want to go back to the beginning - and you really should - at least read the previous book ("The Brutal Telling") before plunging into this one. "Bury Your Dead" is nuanced and heartbreaking, and one of the most affecting novels I have ever read. It follows three stories simultaneously. The first is a murder in Quebec City at Carnival time. Of the three, it's the most straightforward. Some of the background relating to the history of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, and conflicts between English and French language speakers is slow going. But it's a good workmanlike mystery, elevated by the emotional complexity of Chief Inspector Gamache as he struggles to reconcile himself to events that have brought him to Quebec City to recover from wounds. It is those events that comprise the second story - of a shootout that left him and fellow officers bleeding or dead - told only in flashbacks from both his point of view and that of his deputy, Jean Guy Beauvoir. The details of the attack are doled out over the course of the book, at first sporadically and then with escalating urgency, leading to the big reveal. It's masterful storytelling. The final plot line returns readers to Three Pines and the murder central to the previous book. To say more would be to give too much away. Suffice it to say that anyone who read "The Brutal Telling" but not this one will not have gotten the whole story. The emotional payoff here is monumental.

What other book might you compare Bury Your Dead to and why?

This may seem odd, but the series reminds me a little of Ellis Peters' Cadfael and Felse series. These are much more psychologically complex and deliver both devastating and transcendent moments that those do not. But there is also something about Gamache as a character, a humane-ness, that reminds me of Cadfael and Felse.

What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The late Ralph Cosham embodies these characters completely - especially Gamache. I have only listened to half the series so far and am dreading the switch to a new reader resulting from Mr. Cosham's untimely death. Even if I were to read these books in print, it is Cosham's voice I would hear in my head.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The past is never really over

Any additional comments?

Penny employs her usual red herrings and I thought I'd finally solved this one before the detectives. I was wrong.

2 people found this helpful