The Cruelest Month, Louise Penny
The Cruelest Month, Louise Penny
24 Rating(s)
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The Cruelest Month
A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

Author: Louise Penny

Narrator: Ralph Cosham

Unabridged: 11 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/01/2015


Synopsis

Listen to the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video.

"Narrator Ralph Cosham evokes the idyllic Quebec village of Three Pines with skillful handling of the often funny, often conflicted people who live there." —AudioFile Magazine

The Cruelest Month is the third installment in Louise Penny's award winning Three Pines mystery series featuring the wise and beleaguered Inspector Armand Gamache.

"Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie ... " —Sarah Weinman

Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat.

It's spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life. . .

When some villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil—until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death, or was the victim somehow helped along?

Brilliant, compassionate Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is called to investigate, in a case that will force him to face his own ghosts as well as those of a seemingly idyllic town where relationships are far more dangerous than they seem.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

About Louise Penny

Canadian author, Louise Penny, has been very successful in her career of writing mystery novels. The main character of her novels is francophone Chief InspectorArmand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec. She won several awards for her work, including the Agatha Award for five years, and the Anthony Award five times, as well as publication in 23 languages.

Penny's earlier career was a broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting System after her graduation from college. Many times, she had postings booked far from family and friends, so loneliness became a big problem. She turned to alcohol, until age 35 when she admitted her problem to herself and has been sober since.

After accomplishing sobriety, she met her future husband, Michael Whitehead, who was head of hematology at Montreal's Childrens Hospital. They were married for 20 years, and she described him as a man of kindness, thoughtfulness, generosity, and a man of courage and integrity. She lost her beloved husband to dementia in 2016 at age 83. Louise has all of her friends in the village outside of Montreal, along with her golden retrievers to keep her company.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Francis on June 15, 2012

Why do I like this woman and this band of lunatics? First there's the thing about the nice small village which just happens to have the highest known murder rate per capita in the entire world. ..I hate that. Then there's the thing about everybody in the village being slightly eccentric. ..I really h......more

Goodreads review by Emily on February 11, 2023

I can't seem to love this series as much as everyone else seems to. I love small towns, murder mysteries and the French Canadian bits but some parts didn't age well and I'm not as invested as I would like. Is it worth continuing?......more

Goodreads review by PattyMacDotComma on April 19, 2019

4.5★ “Gabri rose, trembling, to his feet. ‘Dear God,’ he cried, making the sign of the cross with his fingers. ‘It’s the pre-dead.’ At the mullioned window Ruth Zardo’s eyes narrowed and she gave him half a sign of the cross.” HA! This is what I love about Penny’s writing. Her characters are such chara......more


Awards

  • Anthony Awards - Nominee
  • Macavity Award - Nominee
  • Agatha Awards - Winner