This is my third Armand Gamache police procedural by Louise Penny and the second one in the series. There are more events in this one about the overarching plot which culminated in How the Light Gets In. I'm glad I read that one first, so I recognize these plot developments; otherwise I would just be mystified.
Once again we hear Ruth insult everyone within earshot, food is lovingly described, the warm relationships of the villagers are evident, and Armand is brilliant. The murdered woman was a cruel and universally disliked person who had bought the big house that was the homeplace of the murderer in Still Life, so had only been a resident of Three Pines for a year.
In this book we hear about curling (disdained by the French Jean-Guy as a strange non-sport of the English) and hear a reference to the Leonard Cohen poem with the lines, "There's a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." And most surprisingly, we hear about Eleanor of Aquitane and Henry II. I continue to love Louise Penny for the range of references, as well as providing the impetus for getting out the door to take a walk.
Louise Penny, A Fatal Grace, Minotaur Books, 2011, 340 pages (I listened to the audiobook). Available at UVa and the public library, and from Amazon.