The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #3)

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The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #3)

4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 · rating details · 5,415 ratings · 553 reviews

"Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie. . . . The book's title is a metaphor not only for the month of April but also for Gamache's personal and professional challenges---making this the series standout so far."
--Sarah Weinman
Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month...more

Hardcover, 310 pages

Published March 1st 2008 by Headline (first published 2007)

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Mysteries/Suspense/Thrillers Set in Canada

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May 20, 2012 Contrarius rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller, my-favorite-recent-reads

4.5 stars out of 5.

(non-spoiler alert here -- I'm including a few quotes in my review below, but I promise not to spoil any important surprises from the book!)

I am docking this book 1/2 star because Penny conflated two different species of plants which actually are not at all similar in the way Penny claimed -- which turned out to be important to the plot, since one plot twist hinged on it. I know that sounds confusing, but I don't want to give twists away here. Suffice it to say that her twist...more

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Feb 04, 2009 Toni Osborne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3rd novel featuring Chief Inspector Gamache

It is spring time in Three Pines; some of the villagers have decided to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, hoping to rid the town of its evil spirits that have plagued it for decades ---- suddenly one of the attendees collapses apparently scared to death.... Or was it murder? Due to mysterious circumstances, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team from the Sureté du Québec are dispatched to this picturesque village. Once there,...more

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May 16, 2012 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 4* of five

Ruth Zardo comes out best in this awful, wrenching hanky-moistener of a book.

That's all I can say. Anything else is a spoiler, and if I spoil this book for anyone, that person will hunt me down and kill me.

Dead, like Madeleine Favreau! Eternal rhyming blank verse written by Odile recited in my ears by Rod McKuen. *shudder*

Secrets. Lies. Jealousies. Anguish. Loathing for the happiness of those close to us. If it lasted a few thousand more pages, I'd say it was a Ken Follett nove...more Rating: 4* of five

Ruth Zardo comes out best in this awful, wrenching hanky-moistener of a book.

That's all I can say. Anything else is a spoiler, and if I spoil this book for anyone, that person will hunt me down and kill me.

Dead, like Madeleine Favreau! Eternal rhyming blank verse written by Odile recited in my ears by Rod McKuen. *shudder*

Secrets. Lies. Jealousies. Anguish. Loathing for the happiness of those close to us. If it lasted a few thousand more pages, I'd say it was a Ken Follett novel of medieval times. It was impossible to put down, as "People" magazine yodels from the cover. It was harrowing to see these characters I've invested so much in suffering from blindness of the spirit, self-inflicted, attempting to shun painful knowledge.

(Kath--re A Certain Party I indicated admiration for--you were right, ew.)

Being a murder mystery, one knows from the outset that one is being set up to sympathize with a character who later proves to be a murderer, doubtless to one's shock and horror. Strangely, this murderer left me cold, was someone I thought, "oh yeah, that's logical" about, and in whom I made not the smallest investment.

I was wretchedly, abjectly, tearfully sorry for someone else's miserable awakening, and almost...only almost!...forgave an annoying, nasty character's existence at the end of the book.

There is, about 2/3 of the way through the book, a scene of memorable power and beauty between Gamache and Beauvoir. The sex is awesome!

No, not really, but the two men confront each other honestly and unguardedly for the first time, and it adds so very much to the extant emotional resonances that Penny layers into each of her works that I can't wait to read the next installment. Next year. I need some time off, back reading about the Cathars and how the Pope and his fellow Satanic Minions tortured, murdered, and vilified their fellow beings for the greater glory of Jesus. Less emotionally draining, y'know.

Really, if you're so suspicious or so backward not to have run out and bought or checked out this entire series already, there is little point in recommending that you do so, but I must: Highly, highly recommended, and NOT just for mystery lovers, but for those who live to discover subtlety and grace in writing.(less)

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Jan 20, 2008 Dorian rated it 4 of 5 stars

My wife stumbled upon the first Louise Penny mystery, Still Life, in the Halifax Airport bookstore a few years ago. (A surprisingly good store, I recommend it to all on your next layover to St. John's.) We both rapidly became fascinated by Penny's writing, which is sometimes too precious, but always redeemed, because made more complex by, her turns towards hatred and anger.

These are really strange books (The Cruellest Month is the third; I expect there will ultiamtely be four; each is set during...more

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Dec 04, 2007 LJ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: female_author, mystery, traditional_mystery, canada, contemporary_post_1945

THE CRUELLEST MONTH (Traditional Mystery- C.I. Armand Gamache-Canada-Cont) - Ex
Penny, Louise – 3rd in series
Headline, 2007, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 9780755328949
First Sentence: Kneeling in the fragrant moist grass of the village green Clara Morrow carefully hid the Easter egg and thought about raising the dead, which she planned to do right after supper.
*** It is Easter and Inspector Armand Gamache has been called back to the small town of Three Pines where a woman has been literally frightened to...more

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Mar 13, 2009 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

Louise Penny has become one of my favorite authors. Her first and second books were selected by my book club. Her third, The Cruelest Month, will be reviewed by us next week at our monthly meeting.

It had been a while since I had read her second book and I had to read slowly and try to remember the characters. I love Inspector Gamache and found myself worrying about him all through this book, as if he were a real person. Since I usually cast actors in my books to play the parts of the characters...more

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May 14, 2013 Nancy Butts rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Book 3, and though I hate to leave bad reviews, this one is poor. I don't like the head hopping and her plot in this book seemed implausible. The whole thing about the Arnot case and the vendetta against Gamache didn't ring true to me; nor did the notion that every single person in the book seems to believe that the Hadley house is actually haunted. Really? And Penny's character portrayal is weak. It's not that her characters are cardboard; I think one of her themes is that all of us are a mix o...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Mkb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just had an idea about why I both like and don't like this series. I've complained a bit in reviews for earlier books in in the series that the characters seem a bit caricatured. It occurs to me now that most of the characters have one or two dominating characteristics that are underlined frequently. This means that I have trouble "buying" them as three dimensional beings. BUT, it also occurred to me that there is a long tradition of fiction in which characteristics such as Hope or Greed are p...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Leya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book

As usual with a Louise Penny novel, I’m swept in right at the beginning. I lose myself in the book and ignore all that happens around me. It gets to a point where my children gently start pulling my t-shirt, and I look up and an hour has gone by…and I reluctantly have to put the book down and go back to real life. I hurry along just to go back to the book.

The usual characters are in the book, it was nice to visit with them again. You learn more about their personalities and you either develop an...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Carolyn Hill rated it 4 of 5 stars

I usually try to read a series in sequence and begin at the beginning. However, when my husband, who reads more nonfiction than fiction, uncharacteristically raved about this, I decided to skip the previous books in the series and dive right in. I love the way Louise Penny has with characters and, like most all her readers, would love to live in a place like the Quebec village of Three Pines (without the murders, of course) which is her setting for this and the two previous entries in the series...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Francis rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 hate that. Then there is the kinda obligatory creepy sceance thing in a hunted house. ..Really? do people still do that? Then she starts the book like your typical cozy and then it transforms into a po...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-or-something-akin-to-it

This was an overall improvement from #2 in that it was less repellent in the crimes committed, however, the entire "house as a malevolent entity" became tedious rather quickly. Ignoring that annoyance, and being told by someone who just finished #7 that things start looking up after this one, gave me heart to look past the house and focus on the rest of the story and the characters.

The mystery that brings the Inspector back to Three Pines is less compelling than the back story about the Arnot c...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This is the third mystery in the Armand Gamache/Three Pines series. This time it's April - as per the title - and it's happened again: someone in the perfect, tiny Quebec village of Three Pines has died a terrible accidental death, except - Chief Inspector Gamache is convinced it's murder.

On the plus side, Penny's writing is, as ever, full of flair, with humor and sorrow both beautifully leavened throughout; her characters show believable development; and she is advancing her interesting, comple...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller

The Cruelest Month is another great Louise Penny novel. I have enjoyed every one of her Three Pines Mystery stories. Chief Inspector Gamache and his crew continue to delight us with stories of painted Easter eggs, baby ducklings, mysterious séances, murders and characters that could stand alone in their own series. Each of her books further draws the reader into the lives of the residents of Three Pines, which has been described as a “snow globe scene come to life”.

The perhaps haunted and aband...more

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Jun 02, 2010 Tuppermalone rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't love this story and I didn't hate it. What I did enjoy were the allutions to life as a Canadian. Canada is so close to the US, that I sometimes think Canadians are just like us with the same reference points, the same culture but that is not true. And refreshingly so. I did enjoy learning about things Canadian although I'm not really sure a village such as Three Pines could exist. It seems just a little more than real.
One style of Penny's I don't enjoy is the change of scenery and char...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Goose rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You know you have a good mystery writer when the mystery isn't always the most important part of the book. Louise Penny continues to grow as a writer in her third book about the members of the village of Three Pines and Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The members of the village that we have previously met; Ruth, the crabby old poet, Clara and Peter, the artist couple, Myrna, the bookstore owner, and Gabri and Oliver, the gay innkeepers, are all back. New to this story are Madeleine and Hazel, tw...more

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Feb 11, 2010 Debbie Maskus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the third installment in the Armand Gamache series set in a village close to Quebec and the US border. Many times happen in this story, but the essence is the fine line between friendship and envy. In this mystery, a middle-aged woman dies in the Hadley House of fright. Of course, Gamache and his crew are called as the victim's blood sample contains ephedra, an illegal diet drug, which can cause a heart attach in people with heart problems. Gamache has his own troubles, as someone within...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Cat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Armand Gamache is under fire from, it seems, the entire Montreal Surété for his part in exposing and arresting a dirty cop. He's also investigating the suspicious death of a resident of Three Pines, one Madeleine Favreau, who died apparently from sheer terror. How to sort this case out when he and his entire family are under fire in the local newspapers and his superiors in the police department want him to resign? With the help of his trusty second, Jean Guy Beauvoir, Agent Lacoste, and a coupl...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Milena Benini rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Usually, when I glom an author, I learn to recognize all their little tricks, and the magic starts falling apart. Not so with Louise Penny. Yes, I do recognize her tricks, but despite that fact -- or maybe even because of it -- I keep enjoying the Gamache series more and more.

Part of the reason for this is definitely the quality of her writing. Yes, she weaves the spell of her enchanted village in every book, but the spell itself changes a little every time, comes from an unexpected direction, l...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cozy-mysteries, favorite-authors, mystery, series, canada

Another great Inspector Gamache read. Armand Gamache's growing connection with the wonderful people (oops, characters, easy to forget) of Three Pines and the joys and sorrows of all the characters is as absorbing as the murders which must be solved. With each new novel in the series, the village opens itself to the reader more--more characters, more history, more secrets. The famous Canadian poet of the village, curmudgeon Ruth Zador, is quoted by Gamache and adds a nice companion to the plot, a...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars

Three Pines gets creepy. Gamache’s challenges are double, figuring out the murder that happened in Three Pines under spooky circumstances and addressing the maliciousness of co-workers holding loyalties to a former leader whom Gamache arrested. That leader, Arnot, had done some pretty heinous things, and Gamache’s convictions compelled him to bring Arnot down and into custody knowing that those actions would turn Arnot’s cronies against him. He was correct about that, and in this, the third book...more Three Pines gets creepy. Gamache’s challenges are double, figuring out the murder that happened in Three Pines under spooky circumstances and addressing the maliciousness of co-workers holding loyalties to a former leader whom Gamache arrested. That leader, Arnot, had done some pretty heinous things, and Gamache’s convictions compelled him to bring Arnot down and into custody knowing that those actions would turn Arnot’s cronies against him. He was correct about that, and in this, the third book of this wonderful series, push comes to shove when those cronies launch an ugly personal attack on Gamache and his family. In Three Pines, Gamache and his Surete crew get a lab report confirming that a death first thought to be ‘scared to death’ was caused by another person. On the surface, the victim would seem to have had no enemies whatsoever, but as Gamache and Beauvoir and crew dig deeper, there seem to be a number of folks with at least some motive, most of whom were at the crime scene and had opportunity to start the wheels in motion even before then. Without going further into the murder and Gamache’s work to solve it, this book once again brought Three Pines’ enjoyable residents to be secondary and warmly familiar backdrops to the investigation including as before, Gabri and Ruth and Peter and Clara and Myrna. Myrna’s insights into psychology in the form of discussing “near enemies” provided a fascinating perspective. The residents joined Gamache’s officers including brash and abrasive agent Nichol. The places of Three Pines, the Hadley House, where bad things happen, in particular, serve as known entities in their own ways. An intriguing part of the story for this reader was trying to figure out which
of Gamache’s co-workers were supporting him or working against him. As appropriate for this book and series, there was a surprise or two. All things considered, the third book was as terrific as the first two. I have recommended the series highly to a number of others and reiterate those kudos here. The one minor complaint was that one issue left unresolved involved one of the townsfolk, and I hope it comes in the fourth book. The Cruelest Month can stand alone, but knowing the background of the first two books helps. I eagerly look forward to my next visit with Gamache in Three Pines.
(less)

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May 22, 2012 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, fiction, library-book

Again, I found this murder mystery to be extremely comforting. A combination of the author's writing and the narrator's voice makes me wish to go live in the village of Three Pines, even if people keep turning up dead of unnatural causes.
I was very pleased to get more background for the Arnaud case which kept being mentioned in the previous book (A Fatal Grace). I now feel that has been properly addressed and not just alluded to. It was an unexpected bonus to learn how Ruth's duck (which I met i...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Elaine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, mysteries-thrillers-suspense

Wicca. After it’s discovered the bistro is too happy an atmosphere for a séance, the village friends plan to hold one in the Hadley house. That séance has barely gotten underway when screams are heard and one of them they realize is now dead.

New-Age. This one at times has the reader wondering whether the characters really do believe the Hadley house is “after” them or whether another really believes that he hears the trees talking to him and crying not to be hurt.

Peevish. Some of the characters...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Irene B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Penny really hits her stride with this third novel in the Gammache series focusing on the themes of April, spring, betrayal, and renewal. She is adept at weaving the story of a mysterious death in the village of Three Pines with the continuing intrigue regarding her hero detective's past. The character development, quotes from literature, and plot clues & twists are phenomenal.

After three of her novels, you begin to believe there is actually a place called Three Pines and that you might run...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The Cruelest Month" is the third book in the mystery/crime series featuring Inspector Armand Gamache. I really like this book, am totally hooked on this series and the characters that return to each book. Each of them have a solidness to them that makes them so entirely real in my mind. In each book I learn a little more about each character's past, their fears, and how they interact with each other. And then there is Gamache...man of strong morals and ideals...okay, I have a crush on him...he...more

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Sep 07, 2009 Rachel Morrill rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book the same way I found the Maisie Dobbs books - the list of Agatha Award winners on the Vancouver library website. After reading the Maisie Dobbs book on the list, I ended up reading all the other Maisie Dobbs books (I think there are 6 or 7 of them) because I liked them so much. This book also has several books written by the same author using the same main character, but I will not be reading the other ones. Not because I didn't like the story per se, but because the language b...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cozy-mystery

Louise Penny crafts her stories so well, witty repartee revealing little nuggets here, there & everywhere! Enjoy the chance to remember le Francais! Want to make reservations @ the bistro!

Inspector Gamache is an outstanding protagonist & he has a lot on his plate during THE CRUELEST MONTH with trouble brewing from within as well as a murder to untangle. The book's tone was darker & sadder; such a struggle for so many characters. Even the established villagers of Three Pines seemed a...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Dorothy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-day-mysteries

Louise Penny's mysteries are very much in the tradition of Agatha Christie. Her Chief Inspector Gamache is almost a cross between Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple! He combines the brilliance of Poirot with the small village values of Miss Marple. He is unfailingly courteous to all, even to the murder suspects that he and his team investigate in their roles with the Homicide Division of the Surete du Quebec.

He has a soft spot for outsiders, for those whose value may not be recognized by others in...more Louise Penny's mysteries are very much in the tradition of Agatha Christie. Her Chief Inspector Gamache is almost a cross between Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple! He combines the brilliance of Poirot with the small village values of Miss Marple. He is unfailingly courteous to all, even to the murder suspects that he and his team investigate in their roles with the Homicide Division of the Surete du Quebec.

He has a soft spot for outsiders, for those whose value may not be recognized by others in the Surete or in society. Frequently, he makes them a part of his investigative team and his team has an almost 100% rate of solving crimes, thus proving Gamache's instincts are golden.

His inclusion of these outsiders always meets resistance from his second-in-command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, even though Jean Guy himself was once one of Gamache's "outsider projects." That could be said of most members of this highly successful investigative team.

Once again that team is called to Three Pines, the small village in Quebec that is virtually crime-free, except for murder.

This time a death has occurred in the old Hadley house, the scene of a previous murder and kidnapping and a place where both Armand Gamache and Jean Guy were injured in the attempt to rescue the kidnapped woman. In fact, the old Hadley house stands on a hill outside the village proper and seems to exude a sense of evil. It is an abandoned house, a place that people avoid.

Why, then, on Easter weekend, did a group of villagers decide to go to the old house to conduct a seance? On Good Friday, they had persuaded a Wiccan visitor to the village to conduct a seance at the bistro, but that was less than successful. Not scary enough! Then someone suggested the old Hadley house and the plans were made.

During the seance, strange things begin to happen, weird sounds are heard, and one of the participants screams and drops dead. It appears she has been scared to death. But was it a natural death?

As a reader of mysteries, you surely know the answer to that question! The autopsy confirms it. The dead woman, much beloved, with not an enemy in the world according to all accounts, has been helped on her way out of this life. Now Gamache and his team must find someone who wanted her dead.

It seems impossible. Everybody loved her. And yet love and hate are emotions that can be closely related, two sides of the same coin. As Gamache always says when someone tells him things don't make sense, it always makes sense. You just have to find the sense that it made - to someone. There you will find your killer.

And Gamache, the patient observer, always finds the killer. (less)

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Aug 25, 2012 Donna Agnelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a powerful, powerful book. There is a continued story line in this one along with a new mystery. Very hard to write a good review on this one without feeling like I'm putting spoilers in. I wouldn't want to ruin this read for anyone. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. having read book 6 for my book group I have started at the beginning and these books SHOULD BE read in sequence - there are connecting elements in these books. I love the way Louise Penny has written these boo...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Third in the Armand Gamache series, this book starts with a murder in Three Pines and Inspector Gamache must return to the town to investigate. I love the return of the town and characters and all of their flaws including the husband who is jealous that his wife may suddenly become famous for her art. It is good to read all the town characters again. Also, there is something wonderful about Armand Gamache--a warmth and intelligence. This book continues where the last left off--with Armand unsusp...more

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About Louise Penny

Many of Louise Penny's books are published under different titles by UK/Canada and US publishers.
She lives with her husband, Michael, and a golden retriever named Trudy, in a small village south of Montreal.

Her first Armand Gamache novel, "Still Life" won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony and Dilys Awards.

Awards:
* Agatha Award: Best Novel
o 2007 – A Fatal Grace – Winner
o 2008 –...more

More about Louise Penny...

Books by Louise Penny

Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #1)

Bury Your Dead (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #6)

The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #5)

A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #2)

A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #4)

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The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #3)

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