The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Gamache Series #5)

The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Gamache Series #5)

by Louise Penny
The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Gamache Series #5)

The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Gamache Series #5)

by Louise Penny

Hardcover(Large Print)

$31.95 
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Overview

The wise and beleaguered Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns to Three Pines for the fifth book in Louise Penny's award-winning and critically revered mystery series

Chaos is coming, old son.

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. Everybody goes to Olivier's Bistro—including a stranger whose murdered body is found on the floor. When Chief Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, he is dismayed to discover that Olivier's story is full of holes. Why are his fingerprints all over the cabin that's uncovered deep in the wilderness, with priceless antiques and the dead man's blood? And what other secrets and layers of lies are buried in the seemingly idyllic village?

Gamache follows a trail of clues and treasures—from first editions of Charlotte's Web and Jane Eyre to a spiderweb with a word mysteriously woven in it—into the woods and across the continent, before returning to Three Pines to confront the truth and the final, brutal telling.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781410423047
Publisher: Gale Cengage Learning
Publication date: 03/03/2010
Series: Chief Inspector Gamache Series , #5
Edition description: Large Print
Pages: 683
Sales rank: 854,794
Product dimensions: 5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

About The Author
LOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (five times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada “for her contribution to Canadian culture.” Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.

Read an Excerpt

People lied all the time in murder investigations. If the first victim of war was the truth, some of the first victims of a murder investigation were people’s lies. The lies they told themselves, the lies they told each other....

Gabri approached carrying a tray with four steaming plates. Within minutes they were sitting around the fireplace eating fettuccini with shrimp and scallops sautéed in garlic and olive oil. Fresh bread was produced and glasses of dry white wine poured.

As they ate, they talked about the Labor Day long weekend, about the chestnut trees and conkers. About kids returning to school and the nights drawing in.

The bistro was empty, except for them. But it seemed crowded to the Chief Inspector. With the lies they’d been told, and the lies being manufactured and waiting.

Reading Group Guide

Questions for Discussion
1. The legend of the boy and the mountain is a powerful tale. How did you interpret it when it was first introduced into the narrative? How did your understanding of it change as the novel progressed?

2. Was Olivier wrong to give Madame Poirier less money for her furniture than he knew it was worth? Don’t we all hope to find hidden gems at antique shops or flea markets? How would you have handled the transaction?

3. Discuss how the characters reveal their personal desires, and how these threaten to be transformed into greed. What is the difference between desire and greed? Who succeeds in containing his or her impulses toward greed? Who fails?

4. How do you view the sudden appearance of Vincent Gilbert and his status as a “saint”? Would you agree with Gamache when he points out, “Most saints were martyrs, and they took a lot of people down with them”?

5. Discuss the character of the poet, Ruth. How much do you think she knows about the murderer? What is the significance of her companion, Rosa?

6. Did the Hermit finally find peace in the wilderness? Could you live contentedly in the Hermit’s cabin?

7. Towards the end of the book, Gamache thinks, “This murder was about fear. And the lies it produced. But, more subtly, it was about stories.” What does he mean? Are the poetry and other forms of art featured in the book, from painting to sculpture to the Haida carvings, also forms of storytelling?

8. How do you think the community of Three Pines will weather the revelations of The Brutal Telling?

Further Reading
Louise Perry’s four previous Chief Inspector Gamache novels:
Still Life
Fatal Grace
The Cruelest Month
A Rule Against Murder

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