"There are souls which fall from heaven like flowers, but ere they bloom are crushed under the foul tread of some brutal hoof." Jean Paul

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to the location of a man found murdered in the bistro in Three Pines, Canada.

From the moment the body of the Hermit is found, the author perfectly captures the soul of this quaint area in Quebec. I was captured at the start of the novel. The first words, "All of them? Even the children? The fireplace sputtered and crackled and swallowed his gasp. "Slaughtered?"

I was hooked.

Louise Penny is a very descriptive writer. I believe that her books would be easy to transition to the world of film. In fact, as I learned more of Oliver Broule and the Hermit, and the Hermit's home in the woods filled with treasures, I was picturing the story unfolding as a made for TV drama, perhaps on Mystery Theater.

Louise Penny's writing reminds me of the great Agatha Christie and I can't help comparing Armand Gamache with Hercule Poirot, from his quiet, unassuming manner to
his extreme politeness to the characters and suspects in the story and to his use of logic to solve the puzzle of who killed the Hermit and how did the body get to the bistro.

This is the fifth story with Chief Inspector Gamache and the critics knew from the start that Louise Penny was a star in the making. Her first Armand Gamache novel, "Still Life" won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony and Dilys Awards.

Amazing.