A Great Reckoning

A Great Reckoning is the 12^th book in Louise Penny’s series about Armand Gamache, nearly all of which have been reviewed favorably at MRB. I had the pleasure of listening to this one on tape as my wife and I took a vacation driving through Oregon and Northern California. In this story, the former Chief of the Surete de Quebec came out of retirement following a near fatal shooting incident to become the Commander of the Surete’s Academy. Under former leadership, the Academy had become horribly corrupt and Gamache was determined to set the Academy on the right course and bring those responsible for its corruption to justice. The plot and subplots were excellent, and as usual, Penny’s supporting characters were very well fleshed out. Her prose is lyrical – showing once again that she is far more than just a crime writer.

There were multiple parallel plots that sometimes intersected with each other. First there was the corruption at the Academy which also meant dealing with students who were being influenced by the corruption, and choosing the right new students. For the new class, Gamache changed the choices of the former Commander, “The Duke” as he liked to be called, and accepted a 20-year-old woman who everyone else thought was inappropriate. Covered with piercings and tattoos, and with a minimal high school academic performance, she didn’t seem to fit the bill. Why would Gamache do that? Why would he bring several of his sworn enemies to the Academy as professors. Then, The Duke was murdered in the strangest of circumstances. Finally, an old orienteering map of the village of Three Pines was found in the walls of the Bistro – what did that have to do with anything?

Penny brought it all together in a fitting conclusion – one which surprised me and one which I did not see coming. As she had done with her prior novels, she used her story lines to give lessons about life. Ms. Penny remains in my power rotation of authors and I’m eager to learn where she takes these characters next.