louise penny – Pleasant Nights

Title: A Rule Against Murder

Author: Louise Penny

Genre: mystery

I love this series. The Cruelest Month was the third in the series that I reviewed, but I’ve read them all so far. I’ve been making a point to continue series that I’ve started. I have several that are “in progress,” but this one is by far the longest with 17 books published and counting. But these are so much fun, well-written, and just like visiting home again. They follow Inspector Armand Gamache and his work as a detective. Most of the stories center around the small town of Three Pines, and since he has to visit there so often, you get to know the townspeople. Although this one took place elsewhere, some of the townspeople were still involved.

From Goodreads: It is the height of summer, and Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. But they’re not alone. The Finney family—rich, cultured, and respectable—has also arrived for a celebration of their own.
The beautiful Manoir Bellechasse might be surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the family reunion, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. It is up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth secrets long buried and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines, into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax.

Getting to see Gamache and his wife “off the clock” was really fun. Normally, he’s just working a case, but this time he’s on vacation when a crime finds him. The victims involved in the case are pretty obnoxious, and I hated most of them, but that’s how they were written, with no sympathy. I did miss Three Pines, though. It’s such a quaint, cute town. Hopefully the next book takes me back there.

Series I’m Working On

I have a terrible habit of starting a book series and then never going back to it. Because I do the book challenge each year, I will start a series by reading the first book because it fits into a prompt, but then I get distracted and don’t continue the series. Every few years, I make a point to wrap up any series that I’ve started, whether through the book challenge or not.

This year I’m finally finishing The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder review here) and The Dublin Murder Squad (In the Woods review here and The Likeness review here). I have really enjoyed both of them, up to the point I’m at. Last year, I started a few more series, but I am making an effort to wrap up everything. Here is what I’m working on:

The Jackson Brodie books by Kate Atkinson. I have read the first three and am currently working on the fourth.
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
The Armand Gamache books by Louise Penny. I have read the first two. These are so much fun to read, given that they involve murder. The people of Three Pines are charming, and Gamache is a great investigator.
The Harry Hole books by Jo Nesbo. I read The Bat this year.
The Jack Caffery series by Mo Hayder. I’ve read the first two (Birdman review) and have really enjoyed them, but they are definitely some of the more graphic police detective books I’ve read.
The Penny Green books by Emily Organ. (Limelight review). I discovered her by accident, honestly. I needed a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title and searched my Kindle for various fruits and stumbled upon lime. I have gotten most of her books for free and have read the first two. They are a lot of fun. Penny is a reporter in 1800s England works closely with the police to solve murders. They are really well-written and clever.
The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. (Red Queen review). I’m really iffy about this one. There is a giant plot hole in Red Queen and it still irritates me. But I’ve been told that the rest of the books are better, so I’m giving them another chance.
The Charlotte Holmes series by Brittany Cavallaro. I listened to A Study in Charlotte a couple summers ago and really enjoyed it. It’s a bit of a modern Sherlock Holmes Dr. Watson series (involving their descendants) and is more complex than I was expecting.
The Broken Earth series by NK Jemisin. The Fifth Season review. I really liked this one even though fantasy isn’t my favorite genre.
The Inheritance series also by NK Jemisin. I didn’t like this one as much, but I’m going to stick with it.

Between finishing all these series and the PopSugar reading challenge, I’m going to be very busy this year trying to complete them all, but I look forward to it.