He'd climbed into the tree, almost feeling tickled by its rough bark, as if he had been sitting on his grandfather's lap and snuggling into his unshaven face. She has also created a richly-imagined setting in the charming Canadian village of Three Pines, which is located somewhere just south of Montreal.

In busi¬¨ness meetings, dinners, taxi rides through the snowy streets of Montreal, CC'd suddenly bend down and emerge triumphant, holding her creation as though another virgin birth. a curling lesson that convinces even Beauvoir, who has always scoffed at curling as a sport, that it’s a lot harder than it looks.She's there to be furniture for the plot, demonstrating CC's narcissism and Gamache's compassion, but never existing a human being in her own right. Jean Guy is also worried about old evils resurfacing from the Arnot case and Nichol being their spy and representative. With or without the unwelcome Nichol, the team has much to investigate: Where is Saul and what photos might he have taken of the curling match? Although I am well behind many in reading Louise Penny’s series, i enjoyed my first visit to Three Pines making this an easy choice for vacation reading. In the midst of a killing Quebec winter, the inspector has to figure out how the woman could have been electrocuted while attending a curling match on a frozen lake.

Embedded in the piles is a new case, that of a homeless woman who was found murdered just before Christmas. Penny uses not only the peaceful Eastern Townships as her setting, but continues to provide the reader with some great character development of Armand Gamache, a man whose intellect is balanced with a compassionate side.

This is a fine mystery in the classic Agatha Christie style, and it is sure to leave mainstream fans wanting more. Gamache is a prodigiously complicated and engaging hero, destined to become one of the classic detectives.