Glass Houses by Louise Penny

I have been working on this Armand Gamache series for months now and this is the last one (that's been published so far)! I can't believe I actually read all of them--I only was able to start the series because I assured myself I didn't have to read them all if I didn't want to. But once I got started, I really, really did want to. The true reason is because of Armand Gamache. His personality is so endearing and so much what I want to be like--kind, intelligent, thoughtful, honest, wise, loving towards his wife and family. It's hard not to love him and Reine-Marie and the whole cast of characters. And that is what keeps drawing me back every time.

In this book, Gamache is finally the Chief Superintendent of the whole Securite du Quebec, and he's acting as a witness for a trial of a murder. The book tells the story of a murder that happened in Three Pines (as always) and alternates with the story of the trial for that murder. The murder itself was interesting--the story of a Cobrador, or a debt collector come to make someone pay a moral debt that they'd never been forced to justice. In the Author's Note, Penny says that she came up with most of that part of the plot, which is always amazing to see what sorts of things she can come up with and incorporate into her stories. I always enjoy how Penny does such a good job intertwining two different storylines and having them come together at the end, like the story of the murder and the bigger, overarching goal of Gamache's of taking down the drug trade in Quebec. I am a little skeptical of how they could possibly have taken down all the drug trade with capturing the head of the cartel (wouldn't the second-in-command just take over?) but it was a relief when it worked out well (mostly--I need the next book to find out what happened to Lacoste). I was dying to speed through the last 15%, it was so intense and crazy. I hated it and I love it. And overall, the idea of the "higher court" of conscience was a really great premise for the storyline.