This case didn’t begin with the blow to the head. It started years ago, with another sort of blow. Something happened to our murderer, something we might consider insignificant, trivial even, but was devastating to him. An event, a snub, an argument that most people would shrug off. Murderers don’t. [loc. 1497]
This is a tricky novel to review: it's sixth in the series that began with Still Life, which I liked very much, but I haven't read the intervening volumes, so there is quite a bit of missing context. I also understand, from reviews I sought out after being perplexed by the conclusion of The Brutal Telling, that said conclusion is not actually a conclusion: some aspects, at least, of the case continue in the next book.
Gamache is urbane and compassionate as ever; some of the people of Three Pines have become his friends, while others -- including Marc and Dominique, new owners of the old Hadley house which they hope to turn into a luxury hotel and spa -- are newcomers, slowly being assessed and assimilated by the village. Clara the artist is moving up in the world: when she's offered a career-changing exhibition by an unpleasant individual, she's forced to decide whether her conscience trumps her ambition. There is (of course) a dead body, which has unaccountably appeared in the bistro. There is a convoluted plot involving references to various Charlottes (which I am not altogether convinced held together) and a man -- well, several men -- haunted by secrets that can't be revealed.
And a gut-punch of a revelation as to the murderer's identity.
Delightfully atmospheric, with intriguing and likeable characters and complex social networks. I think I will attempt to read this series in order, and return to this novel in its proper place in the sequence.
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