Book Report: A Rule against Murder

17. Louise Penny, A Rule against Murder (2008) (9/15/19)

This fourth in the series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache murder mysteries is set not in the idyllic (yet for all that, seemingly murder-prone) village of Three Pines, but at a fairly nearby auberge, a fancy hotel on a lake, where a family of means gathers—and then loses one of its own, when a statue of the pater tumbles down on her.

Inspector Gamache happens to be there too at the time, to celebrate his anniversary.

The solution to the mystery involves sugar and bees, but mostly it involves big money and lousy upbringing: yes love, but no ability to convey that love. Not that uncommon a story. Though usually it doesn't end in murder.

Then again, the murder wasn't about love. It was about robbery. And maybe the family wasn't involved.

One thing Penny is especially good at is food: mouth-water food, usually shared. It may not have anything to do with the story, but it's a pleasure to read and imagine. For a minor example:

Lunch.
 "Hello, Elliott," said the chief as the lithe young waiter gave him a barbecued steak sandwich with sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions on top.
 "Bonjour, Patron," the young man smiled, then beamed at Lacoste, who looked quite pleased.
 He put a lobster salad in front of her. And beauvoir got a hamburger and string fries. For the last twenty minutes they'd smelled the charcoals warming up in the huge barbecue in the garden, with the unmistakable summer scents of hot coals and lighter fluid. Beauvoir hadn't stopped salivating. Between that and the sweating he thought he should order a cold beer. Just to prevent dehydration. The chief that sounded good, as did Lacoste, and before long each had a beer in a tall frosted glass.
 As he looked out of the French doors he saw the maître d' walk by with a platter of steak and shrimp from the barbecue, presumably for the Morrows.
 "You were saying?" 

I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the place the story was set. I enjoyed the evolving character of Inspector Gamache (his father and son both make an appearance here). I have made a note about the actual hotel on which Manoir Bellechasse was modeled, thinking, maybe a vacation not too long from now?

But hopefully no murders while I'm there.