A Great Reckoning

Starred review from May 23, 2016
The lyrical 12th entry (after 2015’s The Nature of the Beast) in bestseller Penny’s remarkable series, which has won multiple Agatha awards, finds former Chief Insp. Armand Gamache coming out of retirement to clean up the corrupt Süreté Academy du Québec. When an old map is found hidden in the wall of a bistro in Three Pines, the remote village in which Gamache and his wife live, the locals treat it as only an interesting artifact. But Gamache uses the mystery of the map’s origin to engage the interest of four cadets at the academy who are in particular danger of going astray. When someone fatally shoots Serge Leduc, a sadistic, manipulative professor, a copy of the map is found in Leduc’s bedside table, and suspicion falls on the four cadets and Gamache himself. As the story unfolds, a web of connections, past and present, comes to light. This complex novel deals with universal themes of compassion, weakness in the face of temptation, forgiveness, and the danger of falling into despair and cynicism over apparently insurmountable evils. Author tour. Agent: Teresa Chris, Teresa Chris Literary Agency.

Starred review from June 15, 2016
Within a police force, some members must be trained in the science, and art, of solving murders. But does this training create people highly capable of committing them?In Penny's 12th Gamache novel, the former chief inspector takes up a new post. He's not back to active investigating--not after finally having the chance to heal in the Quebecois village of Three Pines. But he can't pass up the chance to complete his yearslong fight to end corruption within the Surete. By taking the job as commander of the Surete Academy, he can clean the rot from its wealthiest source--the impressionable minds of cadet trainees. But Gamache makes a questionable decision in choosing to fight fire with fire. He decides to keep the most corrupt staff member, Serge "the Duke" Leduc, the former No. 2 of the Academy. Gamache's choices verge on madness when he announces he will also bring on Michel Brebeuf--the original domino to fall within the Surete--as an example of how corruption can ruin you. In his lessons, Gamache invites his cadets to internalize these mottos: "Don't trust everything you think"--words for bettering their minds and investigative skills--as well as "a man's foes shall be they of his own household," from Matthew 10:36--words of warning for what they may face ahead. These lessons become all too relevant when the Duke is found murdered and it's clear the murderer is one of them. And then a copy of an old map is found at the crime scene, the same map Gamache is using as an exercise with four cadets he has brought under his wing and into his home (one lost soul in particular, freshman Amelia Choquet). Gamache is forced to accept that Leduc's grip on the Academy isstronger and more suffocating than he thought possible. Is the household he has vowed to protect more unsafe than ever before? Young, learning minds are precious things, and Penny is here to make us aware of the evil out there, eager for a chance to mold--and poison--them.A chilling story that's also filled with hope--a beloved Penny trademark.

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Starred review from July 1, 2016

The latest entry in Penny's popular series (after Nature of the Beast) places Armand Gamache in a new role as commander of the Surete Academy du Quebec. Prior to the start of the term he is given an old map of the village of Three Pines with some curious symbols. This map becomes the focus of an investigation after a copy is found in the apartment of a murdered professor. Suspicion shifts from student to professor and back again as the story takes unexpected twists. Rooting out the corruption in the academy remains an underlying theme as Gamache mentors students who seem to be on the wrong path. The transport of these students to Three Pines and the involvement of the villagers in the investigation adds depth and interest. While this book may stand alone, fans of the series will enjoy revisiting old friends. Gamache remains admirable yet human, as he seeks to return the Surete to the force he first knew. A look back at World War I and an explanation about one mystery surrounding the little village round out the story in a satisfying manner. VERDICT This riveting read, with characters of incredible depth who only add to the strength of the plot, will keep readers guessing until the last page. For series fans and those who enjoy the small-town mysteries of Julia Spencer-Fleming.--Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2016
Chief Inspector Gamache has a new gig: he's been appointed head of the Surete Academy du Quebec and is tasked with cleaning house. The police school has become a seedbed for corruption, devoted to turning out bent cops. The inspector, of course, has a multilayered plan for ridding the school of its multiple malignancies, but before he can begin surgery, the chief offender is murdered, and Gamache himself becomes the leading suspect. Naturally, Penny finds a way for her plot to curlicue back to Three Pines, the remote village where Gamache now lives and whose idiosyncratic denizens provide much of the series' appeal. This time the hook is a map found in the walls of the local bistronot just any map but a cartographic curiosity that may be the only map ever made of Three Pines. So how does a copy of that map find its way to the bedside table of the murder victim? And does its presence further implicate Gamache?Once again Penny displays her remarkable ability to serve equally well both series devotees and new readers (if there are any of those still to be found). Gamache fans will be thrilled by the way this installment unlocks some of the series' enduring questions: Why is Three Pines off the grid? Why do we know so little about Gamache's past? At the same time, the main plot offers a compelling mystery and a rich human drama in which no character is either entirely good or evil, and each is capable of inspiring empathy. Evil, as Gamache notes, quoting Auden, is unspectacular and always human. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A first printing of 500,000 copies will ensure that at least the first wave of Penny readers get their hands on her latest as quickly as possible.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)