What do readers think of The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny? Write your own review.

This is a murder mystery. But as soon as you see it's written by Louise Penny, you know it's no ordinary murder mystery. It's also a story of love and betrayal, hope and horror, rebirth and death. It is a book that is entertaining (see above: murder mystery), but even more so it is a book that plumbs the psychological depths of we humans as we try to live and love and be happy. I define it as a literary murder mystery.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force for the province, is sent back to the idyllic village of Three Pines to investigate a murder. (OK, the high murder rate for such a small town does take away some of that idyllic sense.) It's April, and since this takes place in Canada it snows one day and is sunny and warm the next. Ah, the cruelest month—but it's not only the weather that incites cruelty. During a séance in the old Hadley house on Easter evening, one of the residents of Three Pines dies. Was this individual literally scared to death or was it something more sinister? Gamache and his crew are on the case. But someone from the police force is on Gamache's case, out to destroy his life.

The intelligent, multilayered plot is engrossing for even the most discerning reader. Translation: If murder mysteries are too mundane for your highbrow literary tastes, give Louise Penny a try. But you must start at the beginning of this now 16-book series (No. 17 is on the way in August 2021) with "Still Life."

A bit of advice: Do NOT read this book when you are hungry. I know, I know. It's a murder mystery, and that's a weird piece of advice. Just trust me on this one.

Aside to Louise Penny: Please, please, please write a cookbook with the recipes for all these delectable dishes you describe in such mouthwatering detail.