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Book Summary and Reviews of A Better Man by Louise Penny

A Better Man by Louise Penny

A Better Man

A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

by Louise Penny

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  • Aug 2019, 448 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Catastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he returns to the Sûreté du Québec.

It's Gamache's first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter.

As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.

Increasingly hounded by the question, how would you feel…, he resumes the search.

As the rivers rise, and the social media onslaught against Gamache becomes crueler, a body is discovered. And in the tumult, mistakes are made.

In the next novel in this "constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves" (New York Times Book Review), Gamache must face a horrific possibility, and a burning question.

What would you do if your child's killer walked free?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Penny is a master at blending the modern evils affecting the big city and hidden secrets of the almost mythical village of Three Pines. Well-known characters return and new faces add richness to a narrative that will keep readers intrigued until the last page." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Insightful, well-plotted… Penny offers intriguing commentary on the willful blindness that can keep people from acknowledging the secrets and lies in their own lives. Penny wraps up some continuing story lines and sends recurring characters in surprising directions." - Publishers Weekly

"Penny reveals a deeper vulnerability in the introspective Gamache… The ending is adrenaline-filled....This starts as a small-town mystery and becomes something grander." - Kirkus Reviews

"A captivating, wintry whodunit." - People

"A constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves." - New York Times Book Review

"A spellbinder ... another outstanding Gamache adventure… ingenious .... what more could a mystery reader – or any reader for that matter – want?"- Washington Post

This information about A Better Man was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Becky H

A Better Man
I have only read one other Armand Gamache mystery. This one convinces me I should read more!

Armand is back at work, demoted and brushed aside for another – his son-in-law! A flood is happening and Three Pines is in the crosshairs. A woman is missing and her husband, who may be a murderer, is unconcerned. A new agent is pushing for Gamache to take over the case. The missing woman’s father is threatening to murder the husband. And then there is the dog.

Oh my – all these plot points and we are only in the first few pages. The tension doesn’t stop until the last page in this engrossing mystery. Penny keeps the tension alive with just enough red herrings and plot twists to compel reading far into the night.

A well written, engrossing mystery with a familiar character in a new and uncomfortable situation.

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Author Information

Louise Penny Author Biography

Photo: Jean-Francois Bérubé

Louise Penny's first novel, Still Life, won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. Her second book, A Fatal Grace, won the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel, as did her third, The Cruelest Month. Her next, A Rule Against Murder, was a New York Times bestseller, followed by The Brutal Telling, which was a New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and National Indie bestseller. Louise lives in a small village south of Montreal.

Pronunciation Guide: Louise Penny's website provides a wealth of interesting information about her and her books including a pronunciation guide to the characters and places referenced in her books.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series (to 2020)

  1. Still Life (2005)
  2. Dead Cold (2006) aka A Fatal Grace
  3. The Cruellest ...

... Full Biography
Link to Louise Penny's Website

Other books by Louise Penny at BookBrowse
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