While I liked this better than The Madness of Crowds, it was about the same as the last book, A World of Curiosities. I think that the magic of the Gamache series and Three pines is dwindling a bit for me with the last few books, but I still auto read the series and am very bias to WANTING to love them, which made this a 4 star for me. I would not recommend this as a standalone.
This installment starts in peaceful Three Pines but quickly shifts into a high-stakes investigation involving a potential terrorist attack on Québec’s water supply.
Gamache is as layered as ever, grappling with trust and suspicion, even with people he has respected and helped get into their positions of power. The legend of the grey wolf—symbolizing the battle between good and evil—brought us back to a previous book that was a meaningful installment into Gamache and Jean-Guy’s relationship. While the characters were jet setting around the world trying to figure out what was going on, I missed the Three Pines villagers—they’re what make these books so charming, and they barely show up here. I do hope that Gamache will someday get to retire and stop having to be a superhero.
I listened to the audiobook, and while it was good, the similar-sounding French names threw me off at times. It made the ending a little hard to follow and I had to relisten a few times to figure out what was going on. Plus, I miss the old narrators—this one didn’t quite have the same magic. I ended up also buying the Kindle book so I could figure out what was going on.
If you’re a Gamache fan, you’ll still likely enjoy this one. I’m already waiting for the next one after the ending!
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If Sebastian was staying n the Canadian monastery how did he get involved in the plot and what was he doing in the US and able to go to confessional there?