The Cruelest Month: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
Written by Louise Penny
Narrated by Ralph Cosham
4/5
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About this audiobook
Listen to the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video.
"Narrator Ralph Cosham evokes the idyllic Quebec village of Three Pines with skillful handling of the often funny, often conflicted people who live there." —AudioFile Magazine
The Cruelest Month is the third installment in Louise Penny's award winning Three Pines mystery series featuring the wise and beleaguered Inspector Armand Gamache.
"Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie ... " —Sarah Weinman
Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat.
It's spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life. . .
When some villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil—until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death, or was the victim somehow helped along?
Brilliant, compassionate Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is called to investigate, in a case that will force him to face his own ghosts as well as those of a seemingly idyllic town where relationships are far more dangerous than they seem.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
Louise Penny
LOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels, and coauthor with Hillary Rodham Clinton of the #1 New York Times bestselling thriller State of Terror. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (nine times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.
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Titles in the series (15)
The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Fatal Grace: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cruelest Month: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Trick of the Light: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Rule Against Murder: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long Way Home: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kingdom of the Blind: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Great Reckoning: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Glass Houses: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Devils Are Here: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for The Cruelest Month
1,413 ratings111 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The greatest mystery books written. Louise Penny is a brilliant author.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Louise Penny never fails! Once again we have a great story with insight into human behavior like no other. The story is great and the community of Three Pines is becoming like old friends.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With the first book, I wasn't completely sold. With the 2nd & now 3rd book, I'm definitely intrigued by The Three Pines community & Gamache. Along with his team.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another great one! Will look forward to the next.? 1 word
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book, and I love this series! Can't wait to read number4!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Typical Gamache but not quite as captivating as first two I read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ill-feelings and resentments prevent them from working effectively as a team, but that doesn't stop Gamache, and there may be enough pique left simmering for the next in the series. This was my third book by Penny, the first in audio format, and I enjoyed it more than the previous two. The audio version was more appealing to me, and I give credit to the excellent reading by Ralph Cosham that provided more of a sense of place.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like how all the characters continue to share the stage and I really want to stay at the B&B in Three Pines and eat at the bistro.I am sadly approaching the end of her novels currently in print.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series are brilliant. She goes deep into the psyche of her characters. This one did not disappoint. I just wish the narrator were less monotonous.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was disappointed for the first part of the audiobook. I found it rather boring. The last part of the book was much better and worth listening to the audiobook. It is not up to what I expect from Louise Penny.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked this one best of the series so far.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oh, I had forgotten how much I enjoy visiting with the quirky residents of Three Pines!And Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is in his usual top form, sent from Montreal to solve another perplexing death mystery. This time, the question is "did someone die of fright or was it murder"? There is also a side mystery involving Gamache's professional life as well.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm completely addicted to Louise Penny's Three Pines series. The first two were good, but this one really sucked me in with its haunted house feel and the skill with which Penny weaves various story lines. I'm torn between reading the rest of the series NOW and stringing them out over a few months. What a wonderful quandary.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Even though I am not listening to this series in order, I enjoy them so much!!!! This one really held my interest and stayed up way too late listening to it!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trying to slow down a bit on devouring this series entire, mostly because Gamache's personality is like a rich cake that can be a bit overpowering on occasion. I'm longing for a true end to the Arnot case, but I fear it will not come to pass. I also appreciate that the village is trying to come to terms with the deadly house in their midst, in a uniquely Three Pines kind of way.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5These Inspector Gamache books just seem to be getting better and better.A seance is held and one of the group dies of what looks like terror.Whilst the Inspector tries to find out what happened his enemies are circling.Yes, this is a murder mystery, but really that's just a jumping off point to write about the human condition.Yes, there is evil in this book but also a great deal of love and understanding.Another high recommendation from me, and looking forward to reading the next one.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Third in the Inspector Gamache series of cozy mysteries. This one provides additional insight into Gamache and his history as well as some of the plots against him. Once again, fascinating descriptions of rural French Canada and another complex mystery set in Three Pines.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I had enjoyed the previous two novels featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec, but found my patience ran out with this third one. As a simple country boy myself, I had found the village of Three Pines initially familiar. By this third outing, however, I decided that the cloistered and parochial attitudes and cloying personalities were the biggest advertisement for the benefits of city life that I have ever encountered.The principal plot surrounds the sudden death of one of the villagers while she was participating in a séance in the large house overlooking the village, which had previously been the site of dreadful climes. Meanwhile, a separate story of Machiavellian misdeeds within the Sûreté unfolds, with Gamache beset with a conspiracy of colleagues upset at his earlier unmasking of corruption within the forceWhile the other novels in the series had proved enjoyable, I found that this one became a trial of endurance, and I don’t think I will be revisiting the series.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Some of the villagers in Three Pines Quebec decided to spend part of Easter weekend with a couple of seances in the Hadley House, a house with a history. One of them, a relative newcomer to this entrenched community, dies suddenly during it.There a basically two plot lines: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team have to determine the cause of death and there are people among his co-workers who may be focused on getting rid of him.Well-written, involved plot, excellent descriptions of people and places. Witty at times but a bit darker than previous books. And why is the annoying Yvette Nichol still on the team?This book deservedly won an Agatha Award.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The first half of this was just okay to me. It seemed like it was really focusing on a creepy, haunted sort of vibe that wasn't doing anything for me, and it seemed to cause the characters to take some a backseat. But especially probably the last third, things came together in a very interesting way, with a lot of human insight and understanding and character growth. It reinvested my interest in the series.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Listened to this in the car over a number of months back and forth to work. I love everything about these novels. The rare series where I really think I know these people. I want to visit Three Pines!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5An ok story-line. Lots of references to the previous stories which I hadn't read. Didn't necessarily need to know the history but it took something fromt eh reading. No depth.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I love this series and the characters who feel like friends. There was a side plot in this book though that I felt deterred from the original mystery.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Louise Penny weaves magic again, in the town of 3 Pines. (I'm gonna smack Peter if he doesn't grow up.)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This third installment in the Inspector Gamache series contains a compelling mystery, but the real draw for me was the way some of the simmering issues from Gamache's past come to a boil and had to be dealt with. I also continue to enjoy the setting of Three Pines and the characters who live there, as well as Penny's ability to reveal harsh truths while also so frequently treating her characters with tenderness.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I am really enjoying reading these Gamache books. I usually do not read series books in rapid succession and I am not reading these back to back. - but I have read the first three in about as many months and I have really enjoyed the experience. I love these characters - I love the setting - I love the descriptions of the wonderful meals and ambiance of the local hotel and restaurant. It is so charming and cozy that the mysteries are really just background to the background :) I had one quibble or question that bothered me. In the early pages of this book, Penny mentions so many times that there are many Lillies of the Valley to be had. We know that it is Easter time. I live in New England and we never ever have Lillies of the Valley before May. Is it possible that that they are blooming north of us? It just sort of drove me a little crazy. But I am sure most people wouldn't care at all. HA!Anyway, the mystery itself was good - but for me - it really isnt the main event. :)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I didn't enjoy this one as much -- I figured out the solution too easily, and it went very heavy handed on its themes. Still fatphobic. But also still lovely characters, lovely setting, lovely pace.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Charming novel with hilarious characters. The author evokes the cozy atmosphere of small town in Quebec. In this story, a village woman who is well-loved is murdered during a séance at an abandoned house in the village. Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, of course. The book also further evolves the storyline of Inspector Gamache exposing corruption in the Surete de Quebec.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I intended to take a break from this series instead of listening to them one right after the other...but I weakened when the audiobook for The Cruelest Month was available from my library. Again, I was completely drawn into the characters and the mystery, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was also glad to see at least a partial resolution of the police internal strife associated with the Arnot case (spelling? One downside of audiobooks lol) as I was not enjoying that storyline as much. Not that it was not interesting or well-done, but I have a personal dislike of "false accusation" type stories, which really came to a head in this book. If you are a fan of Agatha Christie and P.D. James, I think you would find much to enjoy in the Gamache books.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/53 stars is a bit mean--really, it's 3.5 stars, she's a very good writer. But she's made some choices that annoyed the heck out of me.
1. If you want to try withholding information from your reader, there are ways to do it that don't antagonize them. For instance, I don't expect to know how the murderer is until near the end. But I do expect to be given some indication as to why ostensibly intelligent characters are behaving like godawful morons. I almost abandoned the book midway because Gamache was making such insane choices--it's explained later, but the writer wants us to think he's an idiot, and why? It's so easy to toss in a "Gamache wished he could share his reasons with his second-in-command, but knew it was safer to keep them a secret" or something like that.
2. I don't buy the relationships in town. Everyone's friends with Ruth, not because they're impressed she's a world-famous poet, but despite her being singular unpleasant to everyone, all the time, constantly. It makes no sense. Clara's married to Peter, who's 100% a total a**hole. Yes, she gets a hug and some encouragement later, but that's like the wife-beater giving a bracelet--it doesn't make up for the wife beating. And so on and so forth.
3. Maybe this is just me (my friends were appalled that I thought the books would be better without it) but I can't stand evil government conspiracy stuff, and every time the book veered from murder/clues/suspects over to in-fighting within the Surete, I cringed. I don't read fantasies hoping for western shootouts, I don't read science fiction in case it incudes shenanigans at boarding school, and I don't read mysteries so I can get cop conspiracies. An-Noy-Ing.
4. Everyone seems pretty jolly considering the murder rate in this small "idyllic" town. Even Miss Marple solved mysteries outside of St. Mary's Mead. And it becomes pretty obvious pretty fast that the murderer's unlikely to be Clara, Peter, Ruth, Myrtle, Olivier, etc., because their agents have negotiated they have to be in each episode of the series, apparently.
Otherwise she writes well, the sentences flow, I want to know what happens next (vis-a-vis the actual mystery), and I've heard the books improve so I'm in for the next one, sigh.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!