Several days ago I completed Madapple and my mind is still reeling a little bit.

First, the subject matter. I knew it was coming. There was this ominous feeling deep in my belly,  churning and bubbling as I read. But when the moment arrived I still reeled. It’s one thing to know it’s coming and quite another when it actually arrives.

Second, I’m not sure how I feel about the end. It felt too…easy, for lack of a better word. It was like reading a very twisted episode of Jerry Springer that wraps up with an “and they all lived happily ever after” when you know damn well that isn’t true.

Would I still recommend reading the book? Was is still very well written? Was it still a page turner? Yes on all counts (the first with the caveat that if you can’t handle child abuse/incest stories, skip it). And I do love how the story itself unfolded, switching between the two time periods and points-of-view.

Please allow me to scoop my mind up off the floor before I write a proper review. All I really know at this point is that the next book I read needs to be light and fluffy because this one was (almost) as heavy as it gets…at least where young adult fare is concerned.

OK. So I’m at roughly page 250, and I think my mind’s about to explode.

I keep reading and I’m still enthralled by how the story is unfolding (i.e. from Auslag’s point of view and from the court transcripts) and how it all seems like a game of cat and mouse with just so much information given.

And now things are getting stranger and slightly more ominous. After Auslag’s mother dies she stumbles onto some family she never knew she had (and aunt and two cousins) who take her in. (That situation just stretch the belief muscles a little bit, but it worked out, and it’s getting explained as the book goes along.)

But as she discovers more information about her family—learns about her mother, her possible father, her grandfather, her mother and aunt’s life in Denmark, her aunt’s evangelical ways—and as she starts to question the meaning of life, spirit, and so many other things, the story has taken on an ominous feel.

We know that a fire happened. We know there are some unusual circumstances surrounding that fire. We know that Auslag had something to do with it, we’re just not sure what. (And I’m really not liking that whole what she’s feeling about her male cousin because, really, he’s the closest she’d ever come to a real live boy and he also happens to be somewhat attractive. Also, I’m getting nervous about who her father might be because as it stands, it could mean her ex-uncle-in-law was a pedophile or she could be the next coming of the world’s saviour borne of a virgin, or it could just be something entirely worse.)

Oh yeah, this book is becoming a mind-warp. But in a good way. I’m eager to keep reading, find out what happens next. I’m also learning quite a bit about botany as that seems to be a significant thread (along with religion/belief) throughout the story.

CONTINUE: Part 2

I’d started reading the book once before, but put it down once I’d gotten to page five or six. It just didn’t grab my interest at the time. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right place (mentally) for it, and now maybe I am. So far, it alternates between the past and present: the past is from Auslag’s point of view of the events unfolding before her, and the (relative) present is the transcript from an ongoing court case in which Auslag is charged with murder and attempted murder.

To back up a bit, the first chapter of the book is entirely cryptic and taken out of context, isn’t really a good indicator of what’s in store for the rest of the book (so far). In fact, don’t really like the first chapter, but I’m certain it plays a pivotal role in the unfolding events.

As far as character development goes, it’s fascinating. I’ll admit I’m not entirely sold on the relationship/interaction between Auslag and her mother, there are definitely so moving moments and the characters are so delightfully broken and raw that I can’t help viewing them as real people most of the time. There were a few moments where I had to stop and scratch my head and say, “um, that doesn’t quite fit” but for the most part, the story is flowing and I’m itching to find out what happens next.

For those who aren’t already familiar with this book, I’ll sum it up so far: Auslag is a bastard child (true definition, not the one used when we’re pissed off). Auslag doesn’t know who her father is and has absolutely no sense of self because—get this—her mother kept her sheltered away from the real world. They survive by foraging and very rarely do they venture into the city…and when they do, Auslag is kept under lock and key by her mother. Then everything takes a heinous turn when Auslag wakes up and discovers her mother’s dead body.

The writing style takes a bit of getting used to, but other than that, smooth reading. This looks like it’s going to be one of those books I’ll recommend—that is, if the middle and end are just as engrossing as the beginning has been.

CONTINUE: Part 2, Part 3

Title: Broken
Author: Karin Fossum
ISBN: 978-0-1510-1366-1
Story Length: 272 pages
Genre: Adult Literary Fiction

Back Cover of Broken

A woman wakes up in the middle of the night. A strange man is in her bedroom. She lies there in silence, paralyzed with fear.The woman is an author and the man one of her characters, one in a long line that waits in her driveway for the time when she’ll tell their stories. He is so desperate that he has resorted to breaking into her house and demanding that she begin.

He, the author decides, is named Alvar Eide, forty-two years old, single,works in a gallery. He lives a quiet, orderly life and likes it that way—no demands, no unpleasantness. Until one icy winter day when a young drug addict, skinny and fragile, walks into the gallery. Alvar gives her a cup of coffee to warm her up. And then one day she appears on his doorstep.

Three Quick Points About Broken

• Point 1: Where’s the mystery? A quarter of the way through, I realized this wasn’t a traditional whodunit mystery—it wasn’t a traditional mystery in any sense.
• Point 2: It’s about characters under a microscope. Flawed but hauntingly natural characters crafted with aplomb.
• Point 3: Smooth prose and pacing, for a translation. Lost in translation isn’t a cliché for nothing, but if anything was lost in this translation, I didn’t miss it.

Short Synopsis of Broken

A writer agonizing over the line of people waiting to have their stories told is surprised when one evening one of those characters invades her bedroom. After a bit of back and forth, they decide on a name for him—Alvar Eide—and she agrees to start his story. She carved out his life: living alone, working in an art gallery, and shunning basic human interactions until a drug-addicted girl wanders into the gallery, and his life. From time to time, Alvar would stop in on the author to discuss the story, particularly when things weren’t going as he expected.

My Thoughts on Broken

First, I was confused. Then, I was intrigued. Finally, I reflected.

On the cover it says that it’s “a mystery”, and from that I expected something along the lines of a detective in a room with a bunch of people when at some point he would declare that Professor Plum did it in the parlour with a candlestick. But that’s not what I got.

The walls around me dissolved as I drifted into the world the author created. With morbid curiosity (and some sympathy) I watched as Alvar’s world spiraled out of control, all because of one crucial choice he made to help the drug-addicted girl instead of shooing her from the store. When he felt the consequences of that choice—what he thought was an act of kindness backfired—he went to the author and practically asked, “Why hast thou forsaken me?”

Surprising is the author’s answer: she can only write what she observes as she drifts down the river; she does not have as much control over what happens as Alvar thinks. But Alvar believes, since she is the author, she can write it any way she pleases and begs her to write something more suitable to his nature.

This novel is a mind warp. The true mystery is not whodunit, but whatmadewhodoit: whether our actions are the product of fate or free will. Subtle clues were sprinkled throughout to support each theory and to, no doubt, spark discussions.

Although it wasn’t what I expected, I enjoyed it. Broken is a quiet, languid philosophical book for people who enjoy pondering the mysteries of the human condition. What made this novel even more disturbing was how real each character felt, despite having exaggerated personalities. At the end, you may be left wondering whether we are creations of divine inspiration or the puppets of a frustrated novelist.

Rating: Worth Every Penny [TPB][B+] (?)

Back Cover of Ruined

Rebecca couldn’t feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She’s staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she’s invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he’s got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city. There’s just one catch: Lisette is a ghost.

A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend — and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey — she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

Three Quick Points About Ruined

• Point 1: Fueled by racial tension. Handled delicately, for the most part, was the issue of race, its intermingling and its consequences.
• Point 2: New Orleans is real. The descriptions were rendered so tangibly that I felt I was in the city itself.
• Point 3: Mystery with a hint of romance. The story, for the most part, is Rebecca unraveling a mystery, but there was a hint of romance.

Full Review of Ruined

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Ruined Synopsis

When Rebecca Brown’s father must take an extended business trip to China, she’s sent to New Orleans. While there, she lives with Aunt Claudia, a close friend of her father, and her daughter Aurelia.

Despite the move not being one Rebecca’s eager to make, she tries to make the best of the situation, but it’s not easy. She has to attend a prep school where your class is dependent on your family’s surname and your income bracket.

Unfortunately, Rebecca ends up at the lower end of the scale and on the radar of the higher-ups, Helena Bowman and her ilk. To pour more salt in that wound, Rebecca catches the attention of Anton Grey, a hot guy from St. Simeon that Helena and every other girl at Rebecca’s prep school has been eyeing.

Her only friend (aside from Aurelia) becomes a ghost named Lisette that she meets in the cemetery. As their friendship progresses, a mystery begins to unfold. Rebecca is then charged with discovering the reason that Lisette’s spirit has failed to move on and why only two girls can see her.

Final Thoughts On Ruined

Ruined is three things: 1) a history and cultural lesson; 2) a ghost story with; and 3) a mystery. (I could add a fourth—romance—but it was so light that it really didn’t count.) All of these elements were weaved together so well that I didn’t realize fully what was happening until I finished the book.

Yes I understood that each part was happening individually. I understood that I was learning about New Orleans and its culture, that there was a ghost whose story needed to be told, and a mystery that needed to be solved, but it was done so well that each part sustained the others.

New Orleans was painted so vividly that it became another character unto itself. It was rendered by an author who clearly loves the city.

For the most part, all the characters were nicely developed with only a few areas of contention. Helena Bowen was not nearly mean enough throughout the book to justify what she wants done (along with her mother) toward the end of the story. She comes across as more of a catty teenager with a stick up her butt than a true villainess.

Lisette’s character was delicately drawn despite being a ghost. She was sensitive and confused and frightened. She was a real girl. I especially enjoyed the trek that she and Rebecca make to learn more about Lisette’s history and the other ghosts they encounter. Each one was an individual.

Then there is the mystery surrounding Rebecca, Lisette, and Helena and their families. It’s interesting, and sometimes intense, but there were a few areas and rabbits out of the hats that threw me for a complete loop-de-loop and made me say, “Really?!?” (Yes, out loud.)

The story itself flowed nicely, but there were a few areas that yanked me out of the story altogether—some of the race relations and there seemed to be an agenda for getting teens to volunteer. These, in themselves, are not bad things, it was jarring how they were worked into the story.

Overall, the book was a fun and quick read. There is a dark element, but nothing entirely frightening. A touch of romance is included, but it’s not an overreaching theme. The sex, drugs, and violence are kept to a minimum. (There is one scene toward the end where it gets dicey, but I’ve seen worse watching Supernatural.)

Rating: Worth Every Penny [TBP - B+] (?)

Ruined: A Ghost Story is available at Amazon

Back Cover of Dark Places

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—famously testifying that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details, she hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings…and maybe admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her across the Midwest, the narrative flashes back to the events of that day, replayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members—including Ben, a loner who’d recently begun a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

Three Quick Points About Dark Places

• Point 1: Multiple personality disorder. The book alternates between three different perspectives, the main character Libby Day (in first person), and Patty and Ben Day (in third person).
• Point 2: A twisted Jerry Springer episode. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities, but on some level, they were truly human. And the situation, as it unfolded, was truly out there but on some level you have to wonder could this possibly happen?
• Point 3: Smartly written. I am surprised and delighted at Flynn’s smart and fluid writing style.

Full Review of Dark Places

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Dark Places Synopsis

The Days were not a wealthy family. In fact, money problems plagued the single mother of four and their vagrant father was little help—he was usually part of the problem. Patty Day was left to manage a family and a failing farm by herself. And that is the bleak setting for this story.

Twenty five years after her mother and two sisters were slaughtered, Libby Day finds herself nearly penniless. Since she feels she’s far too messed up to find legitimate work, she’s easily swayed into dredging up her past by the offer of quick and easy cash.

Back in early January 1985, when the unthinkable occurred, Libby’s brother Ben had been accused, arrested, and convicted of the murders—partly due to Libby’s own testimony. But as Libby starts looking at the actual events of the day, she realizes that her memories of the night might not have been accurate.

With the help of a group of Ben-lovers, Libby begins to investigate her path in order to find the truth and reconnect, on some level, with her brother.

As Libby puts the pieces of the puzzle together, working from the present to the past, we the readers get to see the events unfolding from the past to the present through Patty and Ben Day’s perspectives beginning on that fateful morning.

And the answer to the mystery is not necessarily what you think…

Final Thoughts On Dark Places

I’m still debating whether I really liked Dark Places. Actually, I know I liked the prose and flow and was enthralled by the execution, but I don’t much care for or about any of the characters. I didn’t connect to any one of them on an emotional level, nor did I sympathize.

Flynn has this way with words that just tugs at your physical senses, and she deftly handled switching between the various points of view (Libby, then Patty, then Libby, then Ben, and so forth). One problem, however, was that it became difficult to connect with the characters. Right when I thought I was finally connecting with Libby on some level, bam I’m thrown into Patty’s or Ben’s story and vice versa.

Some of the switching also provided lulls in the story right when the action from one character’s perspective began to pick up, so it was constantly building tension then dropping like a stone.

That said, it could have much more to do with the actual people themselves as opposed to Flynn’s shifting between characters. Libby is a bitter kleptomaniac who’s deeply troubled, partly due to what happened to her family and partly because that’s who she is.

Patty, though I hate to admit it, is probably a good reflection of most struggling mothers and of the three characters, I connected the most with her (despite not being a mother myself). Her stress was understandable and her motives are clear. She was real.

Ben was just twisted in ways that I’m still trying to piece together. How much can be blamed on just being a teenage boy with a sucky life and just plain having a screw loose isn’t exactly clear. Either way, I couldn’t connect with him at all. He may very well reflect some teenage boys (actually, I’m certain he does), but he was just too incongruous.

Then there’s the Ben after he’s all grown up. Him I actually relate to and was glad to see that he’d learned much from his youth (spent mostly in prison).

One section of the book completely took me out of the story. Unfortunately, I can’t say much else because it would be a HUGE spoiler. Let’s just say that a chapter just randomly appeared out of nowhere from a different perspective and it left me scratching my head and wondering WTF?

And I never did quite figure out Lyle’s entire role in the story, besides being the catalyst for Libby to learn the truth about her family’s slaughter. While on the subject of Lyle and the Kill Club, from the description, I had expected a whole lot more money to be changing hands. It just seemed odd that Libby would be so desperate for cash that she would trudge through those old memories for a few hundred dollars here and there, but I guess in Libby’s world, that’s par for course.

At the end of the day, this story needed at least one redeeming character to provide some level of balance. Lyle came close, but not quite. It would also have helped had the momentum and tension of each character’s story built upon each other. (Not to say every chapter was jarring, but a few toward the middle and end were.)

Aside from the characters, I also loved the common thread throughout the book: Money (or the lack thereof). It was interesting to watch how the desperation caused by a lack of money could destroy the lives of everyone involved and leave those in its wake an empty shell of a human.

I fluctuated between really liking and just liking this book. I loved the writing and the story, but unfortunately, the characters and the balance just left too much to be desired.

Rating: Get It Used (?)

If you enjoy dark psychological thrillers, then this may be up your alley. There’s a good chance you’ll love it, but you may be rubbed the wrong way by the characters. You’ve been warned.

Get Dark Places at Amazon

Back Cover of Magic Bites

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…

Three Quick Points About Magic Bites

• Point 1: The prose and pacing are exquisitely done. The book is smartly written without being pretentious and urges you forward without shoving you down a flight of stairs. It’s evident that the word selection and syntax were assembled with care.
• Point 2: This novel is a perfect exercise in world-building. Set in a future version of Atlanta ravaged by magic, the descriptions are vividly dark and disturbingly crafted. It becomes real.
• Point 3: What, no sparkly, beautiful, or dangerously seductive vampires? Nope. In this book, vampires veer from the contemporary norm. They are hideous quadrupedal humanoids continually degrading into something much worse—”an abomination in progress.”

Full Review of Magic Bites

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Magic Bites Synopsis

In Magic Bites, Kate Daniels receives a cryptic message prompting her to check on her guardian. (When I first saw the term ‘guardian’, I thought it was some sort of super/preternatural type of guardian–it’s her legal guardian.) When she checks up on him, she learns that he’s been murdered.

After kicking up a bit of dust, she’s allowed to investigate his murder. She even receives some help to grease the wheels. During her investigation, she learns that her guardian was getting close to discovering a conspiracy that he shouldn’t have been.

After a bit more digging, Kate learns that there have been multiple deaths within two opposing groups in this world ruled by magic. In order to stop a complete uprising and war between these two groups, the Pack (shapechangers) and the People (necromancers), Kate needs to figure out what’s really behind the murders.

What results is that Kate brings us on a super/preternatural mystery complete with red herrings and all. Although it’s not a traditional mystery in the Agatha Christie sense, we do get to sit back and watch Kate piece together the clues to find out who’s behind the mysterious killings.

Eventually, with much ado, Kate and company finally manage to figure out who it is and Kate kicks herself when she looks at how obvious the answer should have been from the beginning. But, frankly, it’s easy to overlook. (Trying desperately to avoid spoilers.) Essentially, this book is like following Kate as she comes across a variety of cast members while venturing into the new-to-her field of sleuthing.

Final Thoughts On Magic Bites

My first thought after shutting Magic Bites was this is how a supernatural/preternatural fantasy book should be written. The strongest point of the book is the world created; the tearing down of the Atlanta we all know and the rebuilding of a dark, dilapidated, and disturbing place complete with menacing creatures and a new code of conduct.

The book is told from the point of view of Kate Daniels, a mercenary. She’s a spunky, in your face, get things done the hard way kind of girl. Being inside her head for the entire 260 page book wasn’t bad. She was rather entertaining. The only tough humps were the moments when she was down on herself physically. When she was ragging on herself, she really ragged and that did become a little annoying.

While the characters were also well crafted–Kate Daniels and Curran (the scary, and yet somehow sexy, Lord of the Free Beasts) in particular–a few did seem off somehow. Most notably was Bono. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about how the character was crafted rang false. Another qualm I had with the book was the various new agencies (and their abbreviations) thrown at the reader. It’s a little overwhelming to keep track of who they are, what their purpose is, and what they’re actually doing, but as the story moves forward, it does become easier to manage.

Those small points aside, Magic Bites was easily read in a single sitting. The descriptions of the people and settings were vivid enough to place the reader in the story while leaving enough room for the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. The prose was clever, well thought out without being pretentious or forced; it was very natural to read from one sentence to the next and one page to the next. It had a little bit of everything: superficial romance, depraved bad guys, and bloody battles. Overall, it was a highly enjoyable read.

Rating: Worth every penny (?)

Get Magic Bites from Amazon.com

It’s Easter, and on a perfect spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead…

When C.I. Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec is called to the village the next morning he faces an unusual crime scene. A séance in an old, abandoned house has gone horrifically wrong and a villager lies still, spirited away – apparently frightened to death.

Gamache soon discovers that in idyllic Three Pines not all is as it should be. Toxic secrets lie buried, and something fetid and festering has clawed its way out. And even Gamache has something to hide. He is shielding his team from a terrible truth. A powerful enemy within the Sûreté has planted a traitor amongst them. Who will betray him? And how far will they go to ensure Gamache’s downfall?

Ms. Bookish’s Quick Take:

Louise Penny’s writing is as strong as ever. The Cruellest Month is a well-written book, and Gamache a likable hero. The main story line, involving the death during the séance, is engrossing; however, a few points detract from the credibility of the novel as a whole. I found that I had to focus on shelving my disbelief before I could really get into the story. All in all, it’s still a good read. I’d recommend that readers new to the series read the first two books in the series before tackling The Cruellest Month: Still Life and A Fatal Grace.

The Full Review of The Cruellest Month:

I first discovered Louise Penny earlier this year when I picked up a copy of Still Life one day while at Costco. It was a wonderful moment when I sat down to read the mystery; my favorite mystery authors include Elizabeth George, P.D. James and Reginald Hill, and Penny’s style of writing is a good fit, although the Three Pines mysteries have a more “cozy” feel to them.

In The Cruellest Month, death once again hits the small village of Three Pines, this time during a séance. The victim appears to have been literally frightened to death. Gamache arrives with his team and the investigation begins.

The who-done-it portion of the novel is well-done, although I found the denouement lacking in comparison to both Still Life and A Fatal Grace. Unfortunately, however, even more emphasis was placed on the lingering Arnot case in The Cruellest Month than in either of the two earlier books. In the earlier books, I found the Arnot subplot a minor annoyance that didn’t get too much in the way of the story being told, but the increased emphasis on this subplot in the third book was very distracting.

Gamache remains a strong protagonist, although he seems superhuman at times – not that this is such a bad thing in a detective story. I tend to like detectives who are very good at what they do. I enjoyed, too, the continued development of the relationship between Gamache and his sidekick, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir. The Three Pines crew are their delightful selves, although the Three Pines atmosphere and characters aren’t as prominent as they are in the other books. It would have been nice to have had less of the Arnot subplot and more on Three Pines itself.

It is, of course, inevitable that the delightful Three Pines setting has one disadvantage; as a reader, you must willingly put away your disbelief that so many murders can take place in such a small and lovely village. Because I have grown to love Three Pines and its villagers (I would love to move there myself, if only it existed), this isn’t a difficulty – I’d be far more upset if a Gamache mystery wasn’t set in Three Pines.

It’s the Arnot subplot that strains the credibility of the novel as a whole. While in the first two books, I could accept the subplot, given that it played a much smaller role in each story, it was far more difficult to do so in The Cruellest Month, where it was given nearly as much emphasis as the murder mystery itself. I found it extremely difficult to believe that the terrible crimes committed by the infamous police officer Arnot, once exposed to the public, would not have resulted, in the aftermath, in a full-fledged government inquiry. He was, after all, a person in authority, wielding government-granted power.

If you’ve ever read a final decision of such an inquiry, you’ll know that they are often very thorough and detailed, with thousands of people interviewed and giving statements, and the judgment itself sorting through all manner of issues. In the face of such a public inquiry, the attacks on Gamache’s reputation simply could not happen, at least not to the extent they did in the story.

The other plot point that I found upsetting was the role played by Agent Lemieux, mainly because I did not recall any hint of this in the previous novel. It may well be that if I went back and reread A Fatal Grace it would make sense to me, but relying on my memories of that book alone, it felt like this new direction came fully out of the blue.

The good news is that (hopefully) the Arnot case has been put to rest and will not play much of a role in subsequent Gamache/Three Pines adventures. Still, despite these flaws, I would definitely recommend The Cruellest Month; if you like well-written mysteries and quirky characters, it’s one to add to your “to read” pile. Definitely, though, I’d suggest you pick up Still Life and A Fatal Grace first, and let yourself fall in love with Three Pines, both the place and the characters, before you tackle The Cruellest Month.

Ms. Bookish fell in love with book reviewing through her guest reviews here at Today I Read, and currently blogs about and reviews blogs at Ms Bookish Reviews.