Review of THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny

 3 Stars

This is the third in the Armand Gamache series, the Canadian series that has become my companion on morning walks.

The villagers of Three Pines have a séance in the infamous Hadley House during Easter.  One of the participants dies, apparently of fright.  Gamache and his team (Beauvoir, Lacoste, Lemieux, and Nichol) arrive to investigate.  Is it possible to die of fright or is Madeleine Favreau a murder victim?  A second plot involves Gamache’s dealing with personal attacks intended to undermine him.  He suspects they have to do with the old Arnot case which is alluded to in the previous books.  The identities of Madeleine’s killer and Gamache’s enemy are revealed on the same night, again in the Hadley House.

Three Pines is again portrayed as this lovely, almost magical place.  This idyllic description is starting to be problematic because once again there is a murder in the village.  It’s becoming very much like Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove in Murder, She Wrote.  Another issue with the setting is that the reader knows that the murderer is not one of the regulars in the series (Clara, Peter, Gabri, Olivier, Ruth, Myrna) so the pool of suspects is limited to the new characters who are introduced. 

Gamache continues to be the hero with virtually no flaws in his character.  He’s cultured, well-read, observant, empathetic, patient, and introspective.  He’s so astute that he recognizes a risk and sets in place a long-term plan to contend with it.  Beauvoir’s hero worship is added to illustrate the type of love and respect Gamache commands. 

Another issue I had with characterization is the portrayal of Lemieux.  He seems to undergo a change that is such a dramatic contrast with how he has been portrayed in the previous book that it’s difficult to believe.  I also had difficulty accepting his motivation since there has been no indication of his ambition and his feelings for Gamache seem to be extreme given the limited amount of time he has spent with him.

I did like how the theme of jealousy is explored.  It proves to be a major motivation for several characters, some of whom seem to take inspiration from Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello.  Even Peter Morrow does something to Clara that clearly indicates his envy of her artistic talent. 

I had no difficulty correctly identifying Madeleine’s killer.  Myrna’s discussion of the psychological concept of near enemy emotions is a major clue to point the reader in the right direction.  Because the murder is committed in a complex way requiring a lot of information about Madeleine, there are few people who could have successfully carried it out. 

I disliked the Agatha Christie-style ending in which the suspects are gathered in a room with the detective at the end and the killer is revealed.  But Penny does one better because she has Gamache’s confrontation with his enemy take place at the same time.  Having his antagonist there at that time stretches credulity. 

There are other annoyances.  Why must there be a detailed description of the food every time someone eats?  Again, there’s almost a fixation with women and weight gain.  And the repeated suggestions that the Hadley House is a malevolent entity become tedious. 

Readers of the series keep telling me that the books get better.  I haven’t really seen any improvement thus far; I’ve rated them all as mediocre, as in ordinary and adequate but not outstanding.  But I’ll continue following the series . . . at least for now.