Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (2009)

There are certain series of books I never tire of or feel I need a rest from a character or story line. Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries in supposedly peaceful Three Pines is one of those that grabs my interest, but at the same time I just love hanging out with all the townsfolk and Gamache's team - well there is one I highly dislike, but I can put up with him.

We have another murder. For a quiet town, there sure are a lot of murders. This body lands on the floor of the beloved bistro owner, Olivier. We have a new couple that has moved into the cursed house on the hill with mother-in-law. We get a bit of a side story about them and the wife getting horses up there. We find that the murdered man was living in a cottage behind the cursed house deep in the woods. Turns out he was East European (I no longer have the book, so can't easily check back on the exact country) and that community is questioned. Olivier's past is covered. I always wondered how he could afford to offer such amazing food in a small town. Then there are all these clues around the name Charlotte. One leads Gamache to go visit a first nations village in Western Canada and follow the work of an artist that was influenced by the native art. And of course there is Ruth, the crude poet and her duck, Clara and Peter, as Peter starts envying the success of his wife - I liked how that one turned out. 

I agree with other comments on Amazon about this book, that it is darker than the others, but at the same time there is still a lot of kindness behind it. I keep running into that word - kindness. Something we need much more of in these times.