A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny: A review

One of the pleasures of the Armand Gamache series - and there are many - is the description of the food. Wherever his job as head of the homicide division of the Surete du Quebec takes him, Gamache always seems to eat exceedingly well, and Louise Penny describes it all in intricate detail - the herbs used, the consistency of the sauce, and especially the aroma of the baking bread and of the coffee, always the coffee.

That is never more true than in this fourth entry in the series. Armand and his beloved Reine-Marie have gone to the Manoir Bellechasse for a short vacation and to fulfill their tradition of celebrating their anniversary at this inn which holds so much nostalgia for them. It's their thirty-fifth anniversary and they are enjoying their time away from it all, being cosseted and pampered by the staff of the Manoir.

The Gamaches are not the only guests. The Morrow/Finney family has arrived for their family reunion and a more obnoxious and unattractive family is hard to imagine. They all seem to dislike each other - and everyone else. The only moderately polite person is the family is Julia, one of the two daughters.

There are two sons as well, but at first only one, Thomas, is present. Then the second son and his wife turn up and we learn that they are Peter and Clara Morrow from Three Pines, the most murderous village in Quebec! One begins to suspect that there will soon be a murder.

One's suspicions are confirmed when a statue of the long-dead father of the four Morrow children topples from its pedestal in the garden and crushes poor Julia. At first it seems a grotesque accident, but Gamache quickly determines that all is not just as it seems - at the site of the murder or with the Morrow/Finney family. It is indeed murder and soon his team is on job.

There are plenty of suspects, most of them other family members, but there seem to be other possibilities as well. There are some unhappy young staff members at the Manoir and the three permanent staff members, the manager, the maitre d' and the chef, all seem to be hiding something. Was one of their secrets a motive for murder?

It's always entertaining to be a fly on the wall as Armand Gamache picks his way through all the known facts and subtle clues and arrives at the conclusion which will solve the crime. Gamache is a most human and humane policeman. He has his weaknesses which are always on full view to the reader. (One of them is a fear of heights!) But the key to his success seems to be that he is always able to empathize with both victims and criminals. He sees both as essentially human - a flawed human perhaps, but still a part of the human experience and responding to known human stimuli and motives.

Louise Penny seems to have a bit of that same empathy for all her characters. She draws each of them with loving care. It is one of the qualities that make these books such pleasurable reads.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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