A Great Reckoning

A Great Reckoning - Penny
Audio performance by Robert Bathurst
4 stars

It begins with this epigram.

“It strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room.”
Shakespeare - As You Like It

I love epigrams and literary references in novels. It’s usually worth some effort to find the source. So far, with a Louise Penny book it has always been worth the effort. This epigram isn’t just the source of a great title. Understanding even a little about the play and the meaning of this quote added layers to the theme of this book.

Armand Gamache has come out of retirement to become the commander of the Surete Academy. It is the next step in his ongoing fight against corruption within the Surete. The murder of a sadistic academy show more professor places several cadets and Gamache on the list of suspects. Gamache moves the young cadets to Three Pines for their own protection. He keeps them busy with an investigation into an old hand drawn map.

The best part of this book is the interaction of the students with the citizens of Three Pines. Two girls, two boys, each student is parceled out to a different Three Pines resident. It’s amusing.

“So what would you call a gathering of students?” asked Myrna. “A disappointment?” asked Ruth. “No, wait. That’s children. Now, students? What would you call a group of them?”

But, of course, Gamache is not the only person who becomes concerned for the welfare of the young people. And it’s deeply touching as the make-work investigation of an old map leads to a connection with the WW1 memorial stained glass window. Louise Penny connects the bullied and abused 21st century Academy cadets to the dead young soldiers in the memorial. Ruth and Gamache make the connection with quotes from Sassoon and Auden. Clara puts it into a new portrait.

“She had painted robust youth. Made frail and vulnerable by fear. By the stupidity and cruelty and decisions of old men.” show less

A really excellent entry in the series. A little bit simpler than some of the books in plot, but that is no criticism, especially as the emotional resonance and character work was wonderful, as always.

I don't know how I ended up reading these out of order, but it worked ok anyway -- this one is a doozy, from the pathos of the WWI history and heartbreaks, to the fatal toxicity of the Sûreté Academy -- echoes within echoes of tragedy and kindness, the beauty of three pines and its idyllic state and funny character, now entwined with the larger world. The small mystery of the map against the backdrop of the larger hurts and healing. Just altogether very moving, as Gamache mysteries tend to be.

This, the twelfth book in the Inspector Gamache series, was my favorite so far. Armand Gamache has accepted a post as Commander of the Sûreté du Québec Academy, which trains cadets for service. In previous books, Gamache systematically rid the Sûreté of corruption. Now he has an opportunity to address the effects of that corruption on new cadets, and ensure they join the force committed to the values of the Sûreté. He dismantles and rebuilds the staff, and personally oversees the selection of freshman cadets. When a murder occurs inside the Academy, Armand realizes his restructuring did not go far enough. He must play two roles: as Commander, ensuring the safety of the young cadets, and as a member of law enforcement, doing show more everything possible to bring the killer to justice.

There’s a second mystery in this novel, concerning the origins of an orienteering map found in Three Pines. Gamache assigns four cadets to investigate, initially as a training exercise. The stakes are raised when it seems possible the map is linked to the murder. And throughout the novel, there are hints Gamache has a personal connection to one of the recruits. Louise Penny ties it all together masterfully, while continuing to develop the characters in Three Pines and at the Sûreté. Loved it. show less

I am amazed at what Louise Penny has accomplished with this book. Not only did it keep me guessing to the end and reveal new insights into the characters I have grown to love but she did it all while caring for a husband in the latter stages of dementia. I don't think I have ever cried over an author's acknowledgements but I did over Louise Penny's in this book. Brava Ms Penny.

Armand Gamache has decided to come out of retirement to head up the Surete Academy which is where all the people who become police officers in Quebec receive their training. He was responsible for cleaning up the rot in the Surete itself just prior to retiring to Three Pines but he has decided that many of the problems still exist because of the training given in show more the Academy. He fired many of the old staff and brought in new professors of his own. However, there are a few curious decisions he has made. He asked one of the senior people disgraced in his purge of the Surete to come back to teach ethics. This man was once his best friend, best man at his wedding and godfather to his children and the revelations about his corruption hit Gamache hard. Almost as bizarre was his decision to keep the Academy's second in command in place since he had proof that the man had been involved in price gouging and other financial improprieties when the Academy was built.
Back in Three Pines Madame Gamache has settled in well and is helping the historical society catalogue the vast amount of material it has collected over the years. It is natural that she would dig in when Ruth Zardo is turned loose on a box of materials that were found in the walls when the bistro was renovated. The discovery of an old hand drawn map of the surrounding era is the best find. Olivier has the map framed and gives it to Gamache when he starts his new job so that he can find his way home. The map will go on to play a major role in the book. When The Duke (the aforementioned second in command) is found murdered in his rooms at the Academy a copy of the map is found in his bedside table.

There are some hints at the end of the book that Gamache will not be staying on at the Academy. I can hardly wait to find out what new challenges await him. show less

Armand Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, retired to Three Pines together, but for Armand it was more of a temporary retreat than a proper retirement. In this installment of the series, he accepts an assignment as commander of the Sûreté's academy for training recruits. With this position, he hopes to finish the job of rooting out the corruption that has been allowed to fester within the ranks of Quebec's police force.

One day, one of the professors, whom Gamache had kept on as a strategy to neutralize his corrosive influence, is found dead of a gunshot wound. The initial assumption is suicide, but the setup is wrong. It's murder. But who murdered the professor, and why does he have a copy of the map of Three Pines that Gamache keeps show more in his office? And how deeply is Gamache himself involved in this situation? The circumstantial evidence doesn't look good. What will we learn about him? Do we want to know?

This book had some fairly high stakes for Gamache. There are moments where the reader, who has become accustomed to the kindly, wise chief inspector (now commander), finds herself doubting the man she thought she knew. The way Penny presents the facts and the evidence, and Gamache's actions and words, skillfully highlight the quandary in which the reader and many residents of Three Pines find themselves. It is a book about assumptions, looking past the surface to find out the true nature of the situation. It is about second chances and lifelines, and the importance of making oneself a family one can rely on. And as always, it is about delicious food and the adorable relationship between Gamache and his son-in-law, Jean-Guy Beauvoir.

This is a book you won't want to put down if you've been following the series. It's faster-paced than its predecessor, The Nature of the Beast, and the map of Three Pines ensures that the village plays a strong role in the story without necessarily having a villager murdered, as often happens in small-town cozy mystery fiction. I'd recommend this book for sure to fans of the series. show less

When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes.

Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary. It leads the former Chief of Homicide for the Sûreté du Québec to places even he is afraid to go. But must.

And there he finds four young cadets in the Sûreté academy, and a dead professor. And, with the body, a copy of the old, odd map.

Everywhere Gamache turns, he sees Amelia Choquet, one of the cadets. Tattooed and pierced. Guarded and angry. Amelia is more likely to be found on the other show more side of a police line-up. And yet she is in the academy. A protégée of the murdered professor.

The focus of the investigation soon turns to Gamache himself and his mysterious relationship with Amelia, and his possible involvement in the crime. The frantic search for answers takes the investigators back to Three Pines and a stained glass window with its own horrific secrets.

For both Amelia Choquet and Armand Gamache, the time has come for a great reckoning. show less