The Cruellest Month (Inspector Gamache 3)

Travel Guide

Three Pines is the village like that in Midsomer Murders that you would love to visit and maybe live in were it not for the murders and funny goings on. Armand Gamache – the Chief Inspector is at the heart of the Montreal police’s investigation  – and in this installment it is indeed Gamache who is the main character in more ways than one.

He’s a funny one that Gamache – compassionate but with a stubborn streak and aware of others yet very secretive at times, he is the inspector of contrasts and this makes for an ideal and very intriguing Chief Inspector. If you’ve read the previous two novels, you’ll know that he has a strong track record and even stronger set of investigative ways – these are explored and played with more here and we get to know a little more about the man himself too.

As well as the mystery of getting to the bottom of who killed Madeleine, Gamache is himself being almost bullied by those within the police force for the role he played in bringing corrupt cops to justice many  years previously. There is still some bad feeling about things and he has that to contend with with his every move.

The attack on Gamache makes this a darker tale than the previous novels but the Canadian landscape, the witty dialogue with friends and the numerous habits and descriptions of the three pines inhabitants provide the light relief.