User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I was surprised and delighted to find myself back in the village of Three Pines for the second Gamache mystery. I had assumed the quaint and tiny community in the Quebec Eastern Townships would be a one-off setting for Gamache's inaugural adventure, since he is charged with solving crimes all over the province. After all, how many murders can one village have? Apparently, a few! I don't know about the villagers, but I was delighted to return for another homicide.
In Penny's second mystery, we are introduced to the odious C.C. de Poitiers, a woman so vile and insufferable no one is sorry when she is electrocuted in a freakish "accident" during a Christmas curling match at Three Pines. Of course, the accident turns out to be no accident at all, and there are so many people who detested C.C., Gamache will have his hands full sorting through all the potential suspects.
Returning to Three Pines a year after his first case there, Gamache (and the readers) become reacquainted with the town's wonderful cast of characters, who now feel like old friends. We find out more about Gamache's own troubled past, especially the mysterious "Arnot case" which made him a pariah among the brass at the Police Sûreté, and we are pulled deeper into the overarching series plot of how Gamache will (or may not) survive the inter-departmental politics and the plotting of his enemies who want to bring him down. Even among his colleagues, Gamache is surrounded by potential suspects. The characters are lovingly crafted and oh so human. The atmosphere is appealing and tinted with the colors of nostalgia. The plot pulled me along and kept me up reading way too late. Needless to say, I bought the next books in the series right away.
Rating: really liked it
Louise Penny is a Supernova in the Canadian literary firmament. And her warmth and human compassion is especially endearing, as is her supercharged inspiration in concocting such an endlessly labyrinthine structure for her book.
Her writing is excellent. And enchanting.
I loved it.
But why do its premises draw me into a dangerously dead-ended pattern of thinking?
Let me explain.
Isn’t this yet another return to the flawed Golden Age Theory? The novel is great, but this idea bugs me.
The mythical Québec village of Three Pines, with its country-club coziness among the chief residents, nestled as it is so quaintly in the Eastern Townships, is an Eldorado which calls out to principal players like Gamache, CC, and Saul to rest in its eternal Shangri-la - like the island of the Lotus Eaters in Homer.
It’s the Sunset World of Trungpa’s classic Shambhala. A place of moral entropy. Welcome to the Hotel California!
And in the master’s chambers
They all gather for the Feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can’t kill the Beast.
The beast is never a stranger here. For a foggy moral cloud hangs over Three Pines, and murderous evil always returns, unseen.
Oh, there indeed is rest here, though - a bit, and some stupor too. But there is no clear-eyed judgement on the part of the residents.
It’s a lot like one of those Florida senior villages, where the staff always tries to shut out all the nasty shadows of life.
But life’s shadows are an essential part of relishing the refreshment of clear sunlight - there... and here.
And double toil and trouble for all the villagers, as a result. And Gamache too, God bless’m!
They have no ethical vigor, as Poirot and Miss Marple once had in ABUNDANCE!
And so must pay the piper.
For -
Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow...
The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead.
THAT is the Real Three Pines. A lot like a “happy” seniors’ home!
So why not call it by its real name?
Well, simple. That would steal all the romance and adventure from Penny’s wonderful plot. And that would be too bad.
So I hope my little wistful Jeremiad doesn’t seem too out of place in a five star review. Cause I really loved the book.
And if you read this book you’ll LOVE it as I did - IF you believe the Shadow ALWAYS haunts us all!
Rating: really liked it
(2.5) I was warned that the first two books in this series were rough and to start with book three. I'm stubborn so I didn't.
I love the small village vibes, I love a lot of the characters there, the main Inspector and the French Canadian bits made me feel at home.
I struggled with this book so much because of the rest. Most of the characters are REALLY unlikeable (and that's coming from someone who loves those!). The fatphobia was INTENSE. The murder mystery was underwhelming but at least it's a quick read.
I want to believe the series does in fact get better but it will probably take me quite a while to pick up the next book.
Rating: really liked it
"So much more comforting to see bad in others; gives us all sorts of excuses for our own bad behavior. But good? No, only really remarkable people see the good in others."A fatal grace is the 2nd installment in Inspector Armand Gamache cozy mystery series. In Still Life I was introduced to the inspector and his team and fell in love with Three Pines, the little village where the action takes place. Gamache is a chief inspector in the Sûreté du Québec, an honorable and complex character whose main approach to solving a murder is to listen. He has to return to Three Pines after a year and a half in order to solve another murder. This time, one of the most hated villagers is electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake during a curling match and nobody seems to have seen anything and at first sight the crime seems impossible.
In this volume I learned more about the personalities of Gamache and his team, about their past and their fears. Also, I enjoyed revisiting some of the villagers from last book: Gabri and Olivier- the heart-warming gay couple, Myrna- the librarian, Ruth - the cranky poet, Clara and Peter - the artists. They all feel like a big family and Gamache is received in with open arms among them due to his pleasant personality.
"Gamache was the best of them, the smartest and bravest and strongest because he was willing to go into his own head alone, and open all the doors there, and enter all the dark rooms. And make friends with what he found there.And he went into the dark, hidden rooms in the minds of others. The minds of killers. And he faced down whatever monsters came at him. "The mystery was a bit more complex than last time and although I guessed the murderer from early on I enjoyed the ride and the plot twists. The writing is beautiful, poetic in places, and it managed to transport me to the snow covered Three Pines, a place I plan to revisit soon.
Important! I believe this series should be read in order because we have a lot of personal details from all characters and conflicts that continue in the following volumes, there are references to the previous volumes so they might not be savoured so well read randomly
Rating: really liked it
A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #2)
by Louise Penny (Author), Ralph Cosham (Narrator)
A Fatal Grace is the second book I've read in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series and I'm ready for the next book. I thrive on all the snarky, not very nice, snide, inner thoughts of almost everyone. It's stream of consciousness going on from someone, almost all the time. Heck, I may remember a dog or two getting some thoughts in although it could be that I'm just remembering Gamache translating doggie thoughts.
It took a long time for Gamache to make his entrance in this book but I'm getting to know the folks of Three Pines so I enjoy spending time with them, too. I didn't enjoy CC de Poitiers but no one likes CC. She lives in a fake world of delusions of grandeur and any time she can bring someone down, for even the most trivial or no reason, she's going to do it. And now, she has her sights on Three Pines. She plans to make that place hers, and in her mind, she plans to raze all that makes the place amazing.
Something I think is very interesting is that Gamache did something in the past that ended any upward movement of his career. He accepts it and is a very happy guy anyway, either because of or in spite of continuous inner reflection. There is trouble brewing in the future and he knows it. People are scheming to take him down even further than a stalled career. I want to know more and I want to know what Gamache plans to do about it.
Pub in 2014 by Macmillan Audio (first published September 30th 2006)
Rating: really liked it
Where to begin with all the richness that A FATAL GRACE gave me. Reading it, I wondered how I had lived so long without discovering the work of Louise Penny, a first-rate writer. Her creation in this book is so real, her writing so lyrical, her characters so unique and the book's structure and meaning so complex that I began mumbling to myself, taking my sweet time reading the book in order to savor its mix of flavors, its innuendoes and subtleties, having at times to stop and scratch my head. It hurts me sometimes to have to hunt for meaning, but in this case the reward was worth the pain.
The characters are memorable. I especially liked chief inspector Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie and I loved the painter, Carol, her fragility and her luminous works; the enigmatic figure, Agent Nichol and the bag lady, Elle, and I could hear with Emilie's ears Tchaikovsky's violin concerto in D. I loved Ruth, the drunken and slovenly poet who at one point declares she committed the crime, a total hoot. And of course, the setting, Three Pines, a quaint, snowy village in the Quebec province of the author's imagination.
The book is about the murder by electrocution on Christmas of the despicable C.C. de Poitiers, a character we love to hate. But it is also about the power of words and how they save and how they hurt. And it is about the agony of the people they destroy.
A FATAL GRACE is not for everyone, not an easy read, but it is a fascinating mystery and a work of genius. It kept me guessing until the end. So if you love mystery and rare, rich setting; if you long for unique characters and meaning deep as bones, then don't miss A FATAL GRACE.
Rating: really liked it
4 stars for an entertaining mystery.
I enjoyed reading book 2 in this series, set in the mythical town of Three Pines, Quebec. This town is close to the US border in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec(between the St. Lawrence River and the US Vermont border). Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Homicide Division of the Surete du Quebec, is called to investigate the death of CC de Poitiers, electrocuted in front of an entire village.
He does solve the murder, and connects it with another murder in the city of Montreal, with the help of his dedicated team of excellent investigators. Along the way he uncovers some past secrets, which provide clues to the murders. I previously read book 1 in the series Still Life and recommend that you read it first. Book 1 was recommended by a family member and both my wife and I enjoy this series. There are a couple of characters that my wife really hated in this book. I read this library book in 3 days.
One quote:
"Because Armand Gamache knew something many of his colleagues never figured out. Murder was deeply human, the murdered and the murderer. To describe the murderer as a monstrosity, a grotesque, was to give him an unfair advantage. No. Murderers were human, and at the root of each murder was an emotion. Warped, no doubt. Twisted and ugly. But an emotion."
Rating: really liked it
The setup for this book is very long and the main thing the author established was how cruel some characters were and how others were affected by cruelty. This section was so unnecessarily long that I wanted to give up on the book. The only reason I didn't was because I really enjoyed the first book.
The focus of the cruelty was on fat. And for a while it seemed that it was only the characters who were being cruel but then I read this passage about a 12 year old girl.
And beside him an enormous child was wearing a sleeveless sundress of the brightest pink. Her underarms bulged and flopped and the rolls of her waist made the skintight dress look like a melting strawberry ice cream. It was grotesque.
This is the author's description, not a characters. And to me it makes the author more grotesque than any 12 year old child could be. The fat comments tapered off after this but the damage has been done. I don't think I could continue to read an author who would use such strong terms to describe an abused child. It's grotesque.
Rating: really liked it
Have you ever been so dam cold that you could hardly move your frozen lips to talk? Having grown up in Michigan amidst many a freezing winter days, I have, and in
A Fatal Grace, Louise Penny truly brings a chilling winter alive making the reader feel you are at the enchanted snowy village of Three Pines in Quebec.
In book two, there's another murder to solve for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his crew as the repulsively cruel CC De Poitiers is no more. Deliberately electrocuted, the villagers almost seem to be celebrating that the monster is dead and for good reason, but her death is linked (view spoiler)[to another sad loss nearby. (hide spoiler)]
I am so enjoying this series and look forward to reading the next nine. Highly recommend if you're in the mood for a fast easy-to-read crime-mystery with well-developed recurring characters (each with their own secrets) that you get to know better with each installment.
Rating: really liked it
A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #2), Louise PennyA Fatal Grace is the second Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery set in the stunning countryside of Quebec. When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Quebec, is called to investigate, he quickly realizes he's dealing with someone quite extraordinary. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village, as she watched the annual curling tournament. And yet no one saw anything. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز دوازدهم ماه آوریل سال2022میلادی
عنوان: سرنوشت مرگبار؛ نویسنده: لوئیز پنی؛ مترجم: ندا افرغ؛ ویراستار: زهرا تقیزاده؛ تهران، انتشارات اریش؛ سال1400؛ در453ص؛ شابک97896226712347؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان کانادا - سده21م
کتاب سرنوشت مرگبار داستان زنی به نام «سی سی» است؛ زنی بینهایت سلطهگر و توانمند؛ نه تنها هماره همسرش را کنترل میکند، دخترش را هم برای اضافه وزن کوچک میشمارد و اجازه نمیدهد او آواز بخواند، او مدیر یک موسسه به نام «آرام باش» است و زندگیای پنهانی دارد. او معشوقی دارد که با او در ارتباط است، و این مرد را هم کنترل میکند؛ مرد میداند کنترل میشود، و سعی میکند خودش را آزاد نگاه دارد، یا گاه و بیگاه به طعنه و تحقیر رفتار «سی سی» را تلافی کند؛ اما داستان کتاب از جایی آغاز میشود که «سی سی» کشته میشود...؛
نقل از متن: («سائول» متوجه شد «سی سی» کتابش را با ظرافتی بیش از هر زمانی که به «سائول» توجه میکرد، در بغل گرفته است؛ با خود فکر کرد: یعنی سردی درونِ «سی سی» به درون او هم نفوذ کرده؟، شاید؛ زمان عشق بازی داشت به آرامی منجمدش میکرد؛ همین حالا هم نمیتوانست بدن خودش را حس کند، احساس سردی میکرد؛ در پنجاه و دو سالگی، «سائول» تازه داشت میفهمید که دیگر دوستانش مثل قبل، خیلی با استعداد و باهوش و خوشاندام نیستند؛ در واقع، بیشتر آنها حوصله اش را سر میبردند، حتی بعضیهایشان موقع حرف زدن، خمیازه میکشیدند؛ آنها روز به روز چاقتر و کچلتر و خنگتر میشدند؛ شک کرد، که خودش هم دارد شبیه آنها میشود؛ فکر کرد که چه بهتر! چون دیگر زنها کمتر به او توجه میکنند، یا اینکه دیگر به این نتیجه میرسد، که چوبهای اسکیاش را _که با آنها تمام سراشیبی روستا را طی میکرد_ بفروشد، و یا برای اولین آزمایش پروستاتش نزد دکتری برود؛ «سائول» همه ی آنها را قبول داشت، اما چیزی که هر روز ساعت دو نیمه شب، او را از خواب بیدار میکرد، و در گوشش میخواند، شبیه صدای هشدار به یک بچه بود، که میگفت: شیرها زیر تختش زندگی میکنند؛ به سائول میگفت: تو دیگر برای مردم آدم کسل کننده ای هستی؛ از خانه بیرون رفت، و نفسهای پر از غم و گرفته اش را، در هوای شب بیرون داد، و نسیم خنک را به داخل ریه هایش فرو برد؛ کوشید به خودش قوّت قلب بدهد که خمیازه های خفه کننده از شامی که با هم خوردند، به خاطر شراب است، یا حتی از گوشت اردک، یا از گرمای رستوران مونترال، که مثل ژاکت بزرگ زمستانی، به دورش پیچیده شده بود، اما هنوز صدای ناله های شب، خطرهای پیش رو را، هشدار میدادند؛ خطرهایی مثل مصیبتهای قریب الوقوع، داستانهای طویل و دراز، مراقبتهای کوتاه مدت، چشمهای سفید زیادی بودند که او را نظاره میکردند، نگاههای کوتاه، سریع و محتاطانه به ساعتها؛ چه موقع میخواهند او را به حال خودش بگذارند؟ از نگاههایی که اتاق را چک میکنند، از ناامیدی برای یافتن یک همدمِ همدل؛ تا اینکه اجازه داد «سی سی» به او نزدیک شود، فریبش دهد، و ببلعدش؛ انگار حیوانی که زیر تخش خوابیده بود، بیدار شده، و روی تخت آمده بود؛ «سائول» کم کم فکر کرد، که این زن خودشیفته، بالأخره دست از تسخیرِ همسرش، و حتی آن دختر بیچاره اش برداشته، و حالا میخواهد او را تحت سلطه ی خودش درآورد؛ «سائول» از همراهی با او عصبی شد، و به خودش بد و بیراه گفت، البته بیشتر منظورش به «سی سی» بود.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 25/01/1401 هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Rating: really liked it
Saving Grace. This book sealed the deal on my deciding to continue on with the series as I was nicely surprised by the second offering. I wasn’t sure about the first.
While Inspector Gamache took his sweet time making an appearance, I was happily entertained with an abundance of snarky humor. No one was safe from gentle teasing to outright mockery.
Armand Gamache and his cohorts were back in town because of another death in Three Pines. A VERY disagreeable woman was murdered by ‘Electric Chair’. Not just for executioners, this person figured the complicated logistics to carry it out and it was perplexing to all involved.
I learned more about several returning characters along with new ones and I began to appreciate their ticks and nuances as the mystery unfolded.
I was also interested in the continuing story of Gamache’s stalled career. I feel that the surface has been barely scratched in this sub-plot and I’m so curious as to how it will play out.
Taking place at Christmas time, the winter descriptions would make this an excellent holiday read!
I received my electronic copy from Kindle Unlimited.
Rating: really liked it
Louise Penny is a gifted writer who has created in Chief Inspector Armand Gamache a sympathetic protagonist who appeals to large numbers of readers. She has also created a richly-imagined setting in the charming Canadian village of Three Pines, which is located somewhere just south of Montreal. The tiny hamlet is populated by a cast of quirky but mostly lovable characters who spend a lot of time walking through the snow and curling up in front of blazing fires. In doing so, Penny has attracted a legion of enthusiastic readers who, apparently, can hardly wait for each new installment of the series to appear.
This is the second book in the series and the second that I've read, in both cases because the book was selected by one of the book clubs to which I belong. Having done so, I can stand back and dispassionately appreciate Penny's accomplishment; my problem is that this just isn't the sort of book that appeals to me. Inspector Gamache is just a bit
too perfect and life in the little snow-globe village of Three Pines is just a bit too saccharine for my taste.
I don't mean that to sound as dismissive as it probably does, and again, I understand that there are large numbers of readers who would
love to live in Three Pines, but I'd probably go stark raving mad in less than a week.
In thinking about it, it occurred to me that, on the one hand, you have the world of Three Pines and, on the other, for example, the world of Matthew Scudder's New York City as imagined by Lawrence Block. And it strikes me that, while certainly there would be exceptions to the rule, most of the people who enjoy hanging out in Scudder's New York aren't going to want to spend a lot of time in Gamache's Three Pines, and vice-versa. What it comes down to, I guess, is that I'm just one of those people who would much rather spend a night hanging out with Matt and Mick Ballou, drinking a good Irish whiskey at Grogan's Open House than I would sitting around a pleasant fire at the bistro in Three Pines, drinking a nice hot chocolate.
In this case, a particularly unpleasant woman is murdered in a very complicated and public way while attending a curling match. Sitting at the front of the crowd, the victim stands up, touches the chair in front of her and is promptly electrocuted.
Gamache is called to investigate and soon is digging into the secrets and tangled relationships of the little village that go back for years. At the same time, he is assisting in another totally unrelated murder, that of a street person who is killed in Montreal. All of this occurs in the dead of winter and the weather itself becomes an important factor in the story.
The story takes a number of twist and turns and, again, I can understand its appeal. But I did have a lot of trouble buying into the way the Three Pines murder occurred; it just seemed completely implausible to me and unnecessarily complicated. As one of the characters asked, why go to all that trouble? Why not simply shoot her or something?
In the case of my book club, most of the Louise Penny fans were perfectly happy with the book, while others of us were less enthusiastic. Again, I recognize that Ms. Penny is a very talented writer, but I probably don't need to make a third visit to Three Pines.
Rating: really liked it
Louise Penny is terrific. I'm a big fan of her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. A Fatal Grace, the 2nd of the series, takes a different path from the first book. More emotion, in depth character analysis, and what is perceived and what is really inside peoples minds. Different and beautiful. What wonderful prose. Listening to Ralph Cosham is such a pleasure. I'm only going with the audiobooks because of Cosham's voice and French Canadian accent.
CC de Poitiers, the murder victim, has to be one of the most despicable characters written. She is hated by everyone. What makes this book so much fun is the opinions of the eccentric group of villages from Three Pines who return from the first book. Just delightful!
I first read a more recent Gamache novel, How the Light Gets In. A GR friend (Susan) recommended I start from the beginning and read them all. How fortunate to get such good advice.
Highly recommend.
5 out of 5 stars.
Rating: really liked it
"The monster’s dead and the villagers are celebrating."It’s been some time, but I was happy to find myself back in Three Pines, the idyllic little community in Quebec that is peppered with interesting characters, as well as several secrets. CC de Poitiers is fairly new in town, and definitely not a friend to any – not even those who had tried to make an effort to welcome this hateful, self-centered woman. So when she was found murdered in the middle of a curling match, it’s no surprise that the townspeople are not mourning her death; rather there is a celebratory air in the village. Perhaps this is due in part to the approaching Christmas festivities, but certainly the removal of the town ‘bully’ must have something to do with the cheer.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is summoned to assist with the case once again. Most of the residents were pleased to see him return, as was I. He is a charming man, and a fair and honest detective, a crackerjack in his profession.
"Gamache was the best of them, the smartest and bravest and strongest because he was willing to go into his own head alone, and open all the doors there, and enter all the dark rooms. And make friends with what he found there. And he went into the dark, hidden rooms in the minds of others. The minds of killers. And he faced down whatever monsters came at him."Along with the folks we met in the last installment, we are introduced to a few more. I liked reacquainting myself with the regulars and popping into the bistro and the cozy little homes again. Louise Penny allows a glimpse of the inner workings of several characters a bit more, and I found this refreshing. I suspect we’ll get to know them even more intimately with the next in the series. Something bigger than just the murder at hand seems to be brewing on the horizon - something with a sinister vibe that does not bode well for Gamache. I felt a little on edge about this! I guess it’s a thread that will perhaps run through the next several books, sort of tying them all together.
I enjoyed
Dead Cold , but not quite as much as I did the first,
Still Life. The crime in this one was a bit out there, somewhat unbelievable. Regardless, I did have fun arriving at the solution and there was enough here to keep me interested in continuing. 3.5 stars rounded down
"A layer of pure white was both beautiful and dangerous. You never really knew what lurked beneath. A Quebec winter could both enchant and kill."
Rating: really liked it
Yet another of those books with two titles. A Fatal Grace or Dead Cold. Take your pick.
Anyway whatever it is called it is an excellent book. I hate the cold, but love reading about places where the snow is metres deep and the water freezes on the end of the firemen's hoses as they try to put out a fire. Wow! Also the story takes place at Christmas in a picture perfect town where the snow sparkles in the sun and everyone drinks hot chocolate and eats cookies. What more does a book need?
Actually of course it needs characters and this book does not lack anything in that area. There are characters galore, most of them slightly quirky or even quite outrageous. The main character,Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, is the ultimate in detective fiction heroes. He appears to have no faults and charms everyone he meets. Except for the few who hate him for reasons that are not totally clear yet. I expect to discover more in future books which I am really looking forward to!
