Book #112: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

This was a Inspector Gamache novel that our library didn't have on audio, so I actually had to read it--and thoroughly enjoyed it still. Each one of these books is so expertly plotted, and it's amazing how the characters are developed and how you get little glimpses into the truth, but just enough to keep you guessing and keep you reading. Penny does an amazing job of letting you know what all the characters are thinking, but only at certain times, so you may know when someone is lying at one time and not at another. I love how there is such uncertainty at all times. In this book, the murder actually happens in Three Pines again (whereas in the last one it happened at a fancy resort hotel somewhat far away but with many of the same characters present), and it implicates one of the main characters who is beloved by many of the town and the readers. It's less cut and dry than many of the other books, because usually the murderer confesses once Gamache makes it clear he knows what has happened. But the last chapter of the book ends after the trial of the accused murderer, and although all the evidence points towards this being right, there still is no confession. And I know (from reading the summary of the next book) that this story continues in the next book so I'm curious to see what happens next.

I am just so pleased with this series. I keep being surprised that I'm still interested in a 13-book series, because I feel like I don't have time for something that big, but it is so well done and so engaging that I am just flying through the audiobooks and wanting to keep going.