Read: ‘Bury Your Dead’ by Louise Penny
BOOK: Bury Your Dead
AUTHOR: Louise Penny
TIME: Present Day / 1608-1775 Quebec, Canada
RATING: 5/5+++ Cups of Tea!
Get ready to read a book with lots of plot twists and turns, a brilliant education of the founding of Quebec and the ongoing relationship between the Anglos and the Quebecois, a spectacular description of the charm and beauty of the old city itself that’s like “falling into an ancient European town”, and an ongoing commentary about delightful quaint places and outrageously delicious food and drink Armande Gamache frequents and enjoys.
‘Bury Your Dead’, one of Louise Penny’s finest, includes three separate but loosely linked stories, asking four questions to solve three mysteries. Why were agents wounded and killed under Chief Inspector Gamache’s command during the attempted bombing of a large dam by terrorists? Did Armande Gamache put the wrong man in prison after a recent murder in Three Pines? Who killed the eccentric historian Augustin Renaud who was obsessed with finding the burial place of Samuel Champlain, founder of Quebec? And where are the remains of Samuel de Champlain?
When the story begins, Gamache is slowly healing from a case that turned horribly wrong. His associate Jean-Guy Beauvoir, also healing, is reopening a murder inquiry in the beautiful village of Three Pines that sent BandB owner Olivier to prison.
Gamache has gone to Old Quebec City to visit his mentor, former chief, and friend Emile Comeau while recovering from wounds - physical, emotional, and mental- sustained during the attempted bombing, and torturing himself by wondering if his mistakes caused people to die. He wanders through the quaint cobblestoned streets of Old Quebec with his beloved dog Henri, often stopping for a crusty croissant or a cafe au lait. He has many heartfelt conversations with Emile in front of the roaring fire in Emile’s elegant stone home built centuries before. He spends hours reading in the English Literary and Historical Society Library finding sanctuary among the cozy furnishings and the beautiful tomes. And it is there he finds himself in the middle of yet another murder investigation. Augustin Renaud has been found lying dead in the library’s basement.
‘Bury Your Dead’ can definitely be read as a stand alone book, but do know events and characters from Penny’s previous books are referenced. Even though Penny does go back and forth occasionally, there’s more than enough explanation to follow the storyline. As the Seattle Times reported, “Penny seamlessly weaves subplots into her elegant book along with rich portraits of Inspector Gamache and the endearingly cracked characters around him.”
The heart of the book though takes place in Old Quebec (click here to read our “Go” post on visiting Old Quebec, Canada), as Gamache and Emile pore through 400 years of Quebec history trying to find clues in the Library’s books, diaries, and journals as to who murdered Renaud and why.
The mystery of Renaud’s brutal killing leads Gamache and Emile to focus on the long-smoldering tensions between the English and the French. Beginning with Samuel de Champlain’s founding of Quebec in 1608 to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1775 where the English declared victory, to the current day (book published in 2008) murder of Augustin Renaud, this book will draw you in from beginning to end. You will be packing your bags (post-CoVid) and rushing to explore, be bedazzled by the beauty and splendor of Old Quebec, and to eat and drink like a celebrity food critic with discriminating taste. That’s exactly what Kelsey and I did after reading this book.
5 + cups of tea for book and audiobook (the narrator is wonderful!)
*Note - it’s no secret I am a huge fan of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache Series. I encourage all of you to start reading from the beginning on some cold and rainy day, and enjoy some uninterrupted time as you are introduced to a village you’ll want to live in, a bistro you’ll want to dine in, and characters you will want to call your friends.
Click HERE to get your own copy of ‘Bury Your Dead’ by Louise Penny, or HERE to listen to a sample of the audible book.
