Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Inspired by the recommendation of WCD, I checked out the most recent Louise Penny work available at our local library, Bury Your Dead.  What a treat!  Penny skillfully weaves three major plot lines to satisfactory conclusion while teaching a history lesson and offering a cultural experience of Quebec and its citizens.  Penny tells the story through lead character Chief Inspector Armand Gamache who heads the homicide unit of the Surete du Quebec, the law enforcement body for all of Quebec province.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is staying in Quebec City with his former boss, Emile Comeu, while recuperating from a recent violent police operation in which several of his officers were killed or wounded.  Most of these officers were chosen and trained by Gamache so he is particularly critical of himself and of the decisions he made under fire.

Meanwhile with time to reflect, Gamache is having second thoughts about a recent arrest and conviction of a Three Pines man, Oliver, who is now in jail for killing a hermit.  The evidence clearly points to Oliver but some of the details bother Gamache.  He phones his second in charge, Jean-Guy Beauvior (also on leave recuperating from the violent police operation) and asks him to make further but subtle inquires in the village of Three Pines.

As part of his therapy Gamache takes long walks with is dog, Henri around old Quebec City.  He admires the four hundred year old architecture and spends time in the Literature and Historical Society library reading about the conflicts between the French and English that are the foundation of modern life and culture in Quebec.  On one of his visits to ‘Lit and His’ Gamache learns a murder has been committed in the ancient library’s basement.  The victim, Augustin Renaud was an historian and archeologist whose passion was to discover the location of the French founding father, Samuel de Champlain’s burial site.  As a courtesy Chief Inspector Gamache is asked by local authorities to consult on the case.  Gamache reluctantly agrees but soon finds himself pulled into the lives of all who knew the foul disposition of Renaud.  In his quest to find the murderer, Gamache finds healing.  He finds his extraordinary sensitivity and empathy for others is what makes him an extraordinary if not perfect Chief Inspector.

Bury Your Dead is a good read and Louise Penny a gifted author.  She delves deep into characters and gives you a background to understand their motivations.  Plus she offers a view into Quebec, city and province, rich in history and culture. I was just in Quebec City last March and now want to go back… equipped with new insight.  Thanks WCD… a great find.