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In this classic drawing room mystery, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is looking forward to celebrating his wedding anniversary at the remote, luxurious Manoir Bellechasse. As Gamache's holiday becomes a busman's anniversary, he learns that the seemingly peaceful lodge is a place where visitors come to escape their past, until that past catches up with them.Tags
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Wow. This one was really good and I was happy to see the setting of the book takes place in a former Robber Baron home that is turned into an inn. Our favorite Chief Inspector is celebrating his anniversary with his wife Reine-Marie at an inn they have stayed at every year of their lives together. While there, they meet old friends from Three Pines (Clara and Peter Marrow) and unfortunately murder finds them again. I loved the ins and outs of this case even though it did not take place in Three Pines. I am glad I read this book and the next few others back to back since I got a very good rhythm with all of the characters introduced so far. Can I also say that it was great to not have Armand Gamache dealing with a police conspiracy? We show more do get into his family's backstory which was nice though.
"A Rule Against Murder" has Armand and his lovely wife Reine-Marie staying at Manoir Bellechasse. It is an inn near Three Pines (don't even ask, I still don't get how far apart they are based on the book description) which for once is not dealing with a dead body. While the Gamache's are staying there, we have Armand reflecting on his father's past as well as his own. The Gamache's arrival at the manoir coincides with a family reunion that has ties to Peter and Clara Marrow. When a murder takes place (by the way, the way this murder happens was a bit much for me, still gave the book five stars though) Armand and his team are quickly on the scene and have to get up close and personal in not only Peter and Clara Marrow's lives, but everyone they come across.
We get more information on Armand and Reine-Marie's lives together and we hear about Armand's father. I loved that each book reveals itself to us about his background. I don't know if I would have liked all of this information dumped on us in just book #1. It definitely keeps the reader invested though since you want to keep reading about what is going to happen next.
I also loved that we get more information about Peter's background in this one. We had hints here and there in books #1-3, but we really get to see who he is in this one. The crazy part is, Armand has known who Peter is for a long time, and I think he keeps hoping that Peter can change from a man being eaten alive by jealously that his wife is a better artist than he is. Based on the next few books, it's not looking likely though.
We get some other characters in this one that I don't want to reveal since it will spoil who the murder victim was and I like to leave that open for other readers in the series. Let's just say that the family reunion we are witness too makes the Wynant family in "The Thin Man" series look like the Waltons. And that's saying something. I don't know if I agree with the underlying premise though that the children in the family were loved. They were some warped human beings.
The writing was very good in this. Louise Penny always does a great job of describing people and places. And I love reading her food descriptions. The flow in this one was much better than the other books too. Everything felt properly laid out. That said, still the way the murder is later explained and how the murderer did I am giving side eye to. I don't buy it. And I spent way too much time Googling stuff on the internet after finishing. Once again, don't want to get into it since I would be spoiling events from the book.
It was nice to get away from Three Pines in this one. I do miss the village and the people there and was glad to see we return to them in the next book which I found to be a heartbreaker. show less
"A Rule Against Murder" has Armand and his lovely wife Reine-Marie staying at Manoir Bellechasse. It is an inn near Three Pines (don't even ask, I still don't get how far apart they are based on the book description) which for once is not dealing with a dead body. While the Gamache's are staying there, we have Armand reflecting on his father's past as well as his own. The Gamache's arrival at the manoir coincides with a family reunion that has ties to Peter and Clara Marrow. When a murder takes place (by the way, the way this murder happens was a bit much for me, still gave the book five stars though) Armand and his team are quickly on the scene and have to get up close and personal in not only Peter and Clara Marrow's lives, but everyone they come across.
We get more information on Armand and Reine-Marie's lives together and we hear about Armand's father. I loved that each book reveals itself to us about his background. I don't know if I would have liked all of this information dumped on us in just book #1. It definitely keeps the reader invested though since you want to keep reading about what is going to happen next.
I also loved that we get more information about Peter's background in this one. We had hints here and there in books #1-3, but we really get to see who he is in this one. The crazy part is, Armand has known who Peter is for a long time, and I think he keeps hoping that Peter can change from a man being eaten alive by jealously that his wife is a better artist than he is. Based on the next few books, it's not looking likely though.
We get some other characters in this one that I don't want to reveal since it will spoil who the murder victim was and I like to leave that open for other readers in the series. Let's just say that the family reunion we are witness too makes the Wynant family in "The Thin Man" series look like the Waltons. And that's saying something. I don't know if I agree with the underlying premise though that the children in the family were loved. They were some warped human beings.
The writing was very good in this. Louise Penny always does a great job of describing people and places. And I love reading her food descriptions. The flow in this one was much better than the other books too. Everything felt properly laid out. That said, still the way the murder is later explained and how the murderer did I am giving side eye to. I don't buy it. And I spent way too much time Googling stuff on the internet after finishing. Once again, don't want to get into it since I would be spoiling events from the book.
It was nice to get away from Three Pines in this one. I do miss the village and the people there and was glad to see we return to them in the next book which I found to be a heartbreaker. show less
For the fourth in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, Louise Penny set most of the action away from Three Pines, and as much as I love that Eastern Townships village, I think this was a wise choice. It seems as if the success of the first in the series froze Penny in place for books two and three. The recentering here gives her a chance to refocus. There is a beautifully realized country lodge deep in the woods as a setting for an old-fashioned drawing room reveal, deeper exploration of two of the recurring characters (Beauvoir and Peter), and a bit more filling in of Gamache’s back story (but not as much as book three, which dragged that book down for me). What else? Oh, yes, an absolutely dreadful clan of modern-day robber barons. show more Penny manages to make us, as readers, loathe them, yet have Gamache have enough insight into them that he understands them and even has a little sympathy. Neat trick.
The plot moves along nicely — in fact, I raced through the second half, eager to find out who and how. The reveal, when it comes, resolves many stray elements planted earlier and whose significance I had overlooked. All in all, a very satisfying murder mystery. show less
The plot moves along nicely — in fact, I raced through the second half, eager to find out who and how. The reveal, when it comes, resolves many stray elements planted earlier and whose significance I had overlooked. All in all, a very satisfying murder mystery. show less
I am amazed that the same characters from a small town in Quebec can remain fresh, riveting and believably involved in murder after murder, book after book. Louise Penny has a gift for character, nuance and setting that keep the pages alive and glowing.
I cannot say enough good things about this writer. Though I missed Three Pines dearly in this book, it was getting to be quite the unpleasant place to live, what with all that murder! Penny cleverly includes tidbits of the quaint village and adds a new aspect to Chief Inspector Gamache. Getting to know his wife, Reine-Marie, a little better was also a treat. The plot is well-developed, the characters just the right mix of bizarre and real, and the atmosphere cloying, stormy, and buggy - just as summer should be in a remote, wooded area, even if one is staying at a luxurious inn with delicious food and drink. Gamache displays his usual unmatched intelligence but also faces his own demons while trying to inspect the emotional wounds of show more his suspects.
If you haven't read this series yet, I recommend it to anyone who likes deeper, more thoughtful, but still suspenseful mysteries. show less
If you haven't read this series yet, I recommend it to anyone who likes deeper, more thoughtful, but still suspenseful mysteries. show less
My favorite in the series so far, and Three Pines was barely in it! Chief inspector Gamache and his wife are celebrating their anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, just over the mountain range from Three Pines. Yearly visitors, this visit coincides with the Morrow family reunion, including the Gamache’s friends from Three Pines, Peter and Clara. The last book hinted at Peter’s dark side. When a Morrow is killed, is Peter to blame or another wretched Morrow? Or does the manoir’s staff have something to hide? An impossible crime to pull off; only the most observant and detail-oriented investigator can pull this one off. And Gamache does so again. The author does struggle in explaining the complexity of the murder but kudos to her for show more not taking the easy route and giving us an extraordinarily complex murder mystery. show less
**I don't know how it happened, but I never posted this review. Careless of me.**
I'm mad at Louise Penny because of book #5 in the Three Pines/Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries, and I want to take it out on her now, but in fairness I just can't. I loved this book as much as I expected to. I thought that moving the action out of Three Pines would make me grumpy, but instead it made me feel, more than ever, that I want to live in Three Pines because Manoir Bellechasse is close for those times I need to get away from the hectic hustle and bustle of Three Pines (snort).
The Gamaches seem so at home in the splendid, isolated Manoir, with its beautiful robber-baron-era main building and its spectacular lake. The murder this time is one I was show more saddened by; the murderer was one I felt so strongly about that I hollered at the pages, "Don't do it!" in the vain hope I could alter the course of the action.
I couldn't.
Damn.
But the real surprise here is the Morrows...Peter and Clara Morrow show up at the Manoir to be at a special family reunion of Peter's horrid family. I know families like this exist. I belong to one. But it's really distasteful to watch the Morrow clan in action. I suppose if my family still had money, we'd behave pretty much exactly like the Morrows, and I mean exactly, down to every detail of the action. Recessions, divorces, and bad business decisions be praised!
I like Clara a little less now; I like Peter almost not at all; and the Gamaches are aces in my book, though I suspect that Armand would wear on me if he's really like he was at the very, very end of this book...a little too perfect. And I still could not WAIT to get to book five! I was panting for it!
Bah. Humbug. show less
I'm mad at Louise Penny because of book #5 in the Three Pines/Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries, and I want to take it out on her now, but in fairness I just can't. I loved this book as much as I expected to. I thought that moving the action out of Three Pines would make me grumpy, but instead it made me feel, more than ever, that I want to live in Three Pines because Manoir Bellechasse is close for those times I need to get away from the hectic hustle and bustle of Three Pines (snort).
The Gamaches seem so at home in the splendid, isolated Manoir, with its beautiful robber-baron-era main building and its spectacular lake. The murder this time is one I was show more saddened by; the murderer was one I felt so strongly about that I hollered at the pages, "Don't do it!" in the vain hope I could alter the course of the action.
I couldn't.
Damn.
But the real surprise here is the Morrows...Peter and Clara Morrow show up at the Manoir to be at a special family reunion of Peter's horrid family. I know families like this exist. I belong to one. But it's really distasteful to watch the Morrow clan in action. I suppose if my family still had money, we'd behave pretty much exactly like the Morrows, and I mean exactly, down to every detail of the action. Recessions, divorces, and bad business decisions be praised!
I like Clara a little less now; I like Peter almost not at all; and the Gamaches are aces in my book, though I suspect that Armand would wear on me if he's really like he was at the very, very end of this book...a little too perfect. And I still could not WAIT to get to book five! I was panting for it!
Bah. Humbug. show less
I've been hooked on Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series since I read her debut novel, Still Life. Yet, as great as the novels have been, A Rule Against Murder still somehow manages to top all of the previous ones.
As ever, Penny plots out an interesting murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. However, what truly will delight the reader are the secrets revealed about Peter Morrow's well-to-do family and one about Armand Gamache himself. The theme of when to remember -- and when to forget -- the past proves fascinating.
I'm looking forward to reading the fifth book in this series, The Brutal Telling. But not yet. I want to savor this one just a little bit longer. After all, how could even the talented Ms. show more Penny improve on A Rule Against Murder?
One side note: The lovely resort in the novel, Manoir Bellechasse, is loosely based on the Manoir Hovey, a favorite with Louise Penny. With this novel, Manoir Hovey should prepare itself for an influx of guests who've read about the fictional Manoir Bellechasse and want to experience the real one. show less
As ever, Penny plots out an interesting murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. However, what truly will delight the reader are the secrets revealed about Peter Morrow's well-to-do family and one about Armand Gamache himself. The theme of when to remember -- and when to forget -- the past proves fascinating.
I'm looking forward to reading the fifth book in this series, The Brutal Telling. But not yet. I want to savor this one just a little bit longer. After all, how could even the talented Ms. show more Penny improve on A Rule Against Murder?
One side note: The lovely resort in the novel, Manoir Bellechasse, is loosely based on the Manoir Hovey, a favorite with Louise Penny. With this novel, Manoir Hovey should prepare itself for an influx of guests who've read about the fictional Manoir Bellechasse and want to experience the real one. show less
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Louise Penny applies her magic touch to A RULE AGAINST MURDER, giving the village mystery an elegance and depth not often seen in this traditional genre.
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Author Information
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Louise Penny was born in Toronto, Canada in 1958. She earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Radio and Television) from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) in 1979. Before she turned to writing mystery novels in 2004, she was a journalist and radio host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in various cities across Canada for show more 25 years. She writes the Chief Inspector Gamache Novel series. She has won numerous awards including the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards for Still Life and the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel for A Fatal Grace. Louise's title, The Long Way Home, made the Hot Mystery Title's List for Summer 2014. Her titles The Nature of the Beast made The New York Times best seller list in 2015 and A Great Reckoning made The New York Times best seller list in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Rule Against Murder
- Original title
- The Murder Stone
- Alternate titles
- A Rule Against Murder
- Original publication date
- 2008
- People/Characters
- Armand Gamache (Chief Inspector); Reine-Marie Gamache; Jean Guy Beauvoir; Isabelle Lacoste; Clementine Dubois - owner of Manoir Bellechasse; Pierre Patenaude - Maitre d' at Manoir Bellechasse (show all 18); Irene Morrow Finney - Widow of Charles Morrow, wife of Bert Finney; Bert Finney - second husband of Irene Morrow Finney; Peter Morrow; Clara Morrow (wife of Peter); Julia Martin (né | e Morrow); Mariana Morrow; Bean Morrow (10, child of Marianna, gender deliberately hidden); Thomas Morrow; Sandra Morrow (wife of Thomas); Olivier Brulé; Chef Véronique Langlois - at Manoir Bellechasse; Elliot - young employee at Manoir Bellechasse
- Important places
- Canada; Québec, Canada; Eastern Townships, Québec, Canada; Lake Massawippi, Québec, Canada; Three Pines, Québec, Canada (fictional); Cantons de l'Est, Québec, Canada (show all 7); Manoir Bellechasse - in on Lake Massawippi (fictional, based on Manoir Hovey)
- Dedication
- For my parents, in love and memory
- First words
- At the beginning of summer the guests descended on the isolated lodge by the lake, summoned to the Manoir Bellechasse by identical vellum invitations, addressed in the familiar spider scrawl as though written in cobwebs.
- Quotations
- Spreading it around won't lessen your pain, you know. Just the opposite.
It was a path worn through their marriage. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It took some time.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- 'The Murder Stone' is the title for the Canadian and British publications of the book which is published in the United States as 'A Rule Against Murder'.
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- ASINs
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