The Nature of the Beast: Chief Inspector Gamache #11 by Louise Penny

Summary: A retired Inspector Gamache continues to need to respond to the deaths around him in Three Pines.

Popular murder mystery series always have the problem of very high rates of murder around the protagonist. It is one reason that they tend to be police officers of big cities in order to give some credibility to the number of murders.

But in the Inspector Gamache series, the protagonist has retired to a town that is so small that it is not even on any map, has a dirt road to get into it and no high speed internet access. About half of the books so far have been focused on local murders and the reader just has to wonder about the character of the town. In this book we find that the village has expanded to become large enough that it has a community theater with a dedicated theater space.

My strained credibility still enjoys the series. Gamache is a great lead and there are many characters around him that are just as enagaging.

In this case a young imaginative boy who is known for his wild tales goes missing and his body is eventually found. This leads to a case that gets bigger and bigger and eventually includes international affairs and weapons deals and a serial killer as a side theme.

I won’t give away any spoilers, but while I was completely engaged throughout the book, it was the credibility issues that keep this from being as good as some others in the series. Most everyone in Three Pines is from somewhere else. They either have something to hide, or they are incredibly talented (or both.)

The series is going to need some new life soon but it has been a good run and I have basically enjoyed all of the books so far.

The Nature of the Beast: Chief Inspector Gamache #11 by Louise Penny Purchase Links: Hardcover, Kindle Edition, Audiobook

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