A World of Curiosities: 18 (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel)

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The greatest strength of this book is the plotting. I read a lot of mysteries, including the classics of the genre. I can confidently say this is the best-plotted mystery I have ever read. I won’t go into specifics to avoid spoilers, but I will say that I could not put this down, and the “reveal” was the experience that I always look for in a mystery and rarely find. Time passes and Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, have looked out for Fiona. She is graduating now with a degree in engineering. But Sam has always made Gamache uncomfortable. His cold stares reach into the inner workings of Gamache. Not much unsettles Gamache in life, but this young man does. In the novel’s present day, Gamache and his wife are attending a ceremony at the college that combines a remembrance of the victims and the graduation of a new class of engineering students that includes two young women close to them.

The Paston Treasure is one of the most enigmatic paintings in Western art. A new book and exhibition, now on view at the painting’s home in the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, in Norfolk, UK (June 23–September 23, 2018), tell the story of the family of collectors who commissioned the work—which is still unattributed and largely shrouded in mystery—and delves into their obsession for beautiful objects. This is the 18th title in the series featuring Armand Gamache, head of the Sûreté du Québec, and his friends and neighbours in the small village of Three Pines. It has all the features we’ve come to expect and love: the camaraderie of the inhabitants of Three Pines; the Chief’s intuitive understanding of human nature and an intricately woven, emotionally nuanced plot. A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES is filled with misdirection and red herrings at every turn, even though the clues are there. Even though one instinctively knows, at least hopes, everything will be alright, the suspense is such that the end may engender tears of relief. The reader is so invested in the characters, one experiences their pain, fear, and anger, but also their love. This is one of the most suspenseful books Penny has written and one that must have required a tremendous amount of research. It may also be one of her best. Electrifying drama … the bodies pile up, the intensity and horror are reminiscent of Thomas Harris at his finest. Gamache is a fascinatingly complex protagonist’ BOOK OF THE MONTH, THE TIMES This is, at a glance, many of Goodreads Penny fans’ favorite book. It’s obviously well-crafted and very ambitious, (though maybe too much so; see below), as Penny tries to connect the dots between all sorts of important historical and fictional entities:When the investigators inform Clothilde's children, Fiona (14) and Sam (10), the kids behave oddly. Afterwards the detectives learn the Arsenault home was so abusive the siblings might never recover. The detectives also sense something 'off' about the youngsters, with Gamache thinking Sam is a sociopath and Beauvoir believing the same about Fiona. They didn’t need proof. All a woman had to be was alive. Just being a woman was, in the church’s eyes, evil.’

Anne Lamarque, a woman accused of being a witch in the 1670's, is honored as well as the 14 women slain in 1989 in Ruth's poem: A World of Curiosities is Louise Penny's 18th novel in a series featuring the fictional character Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. This is my 17th Louise Penny. It should be my 18th but I did miss one when I first discovered this series and raced through many of the early books and now I can't quite figure out which one I missed or skipped when I could not get it in a timely manner from the library. Most have been on audio. The most richly accomplished of the brothers’ pairings to date—and given Connelly’s high standards, that’s saying a lot.It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge. Rogers, Shelagh (24 March 2023). "Louise Penny's A World of Curiosities reveals Chief Inspector Armand Gamache's origins". CBC's The Next Chapter (radio program).