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

by Louise Penny (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (14)

Sameera77 Ruth Zardo's poetry in Louise Penny's books comes mostly from Margaret Atwood's Morning in the Burned House and Marylyn Plessner's self-published book…moreRuth Zardo's poetry in Louise Penny's books comes mostly from Margaret Atwood's Morning in the Burned House and Marylyn Plessner's self-published book.
louisepenny.blogspot.com/2010/02/joan...
www.kittlingbooks.com/2013/09/poisone...(less)

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Will there be further televised episodes following Still Life?

Andrea Ptak Amazon has picked up the series and will begin a new production...starting with Still Life...as soon as CV-19 allows.

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Margaret Schwind Confronting all the suspects at the scene of the crime is a time-honored device - I think Hercule Poirot did it in every single one of his mysteries. …moreConfronting all the suspects at the scene of the crime is a time-honored device - I think Hercule Poirot did it in every single one of his mysteries. Aside from that, once Gamache figured out what had happened, he asked Brébuf to "round up the usual suspects" and have them all assemble at the scene of the crime, saying that it had begun there with a circle, and now it was time to come full circle. Everyone who was there, with the possible exception of Clara, had means, motive, and opportunity, and he probably wanted to confront each of them with the secrets they'd been keeping and the resentments that had been festering. Confronting them all together also meant that he didn't tip his hand as to what he knew, which would have happened if he'd confronted them all separately.

As for Lemieux and Brébuf, their joint objective was to destroy Gamache by humiliating him and forcing him to resign, but their reasons were different. Lemieux had come to believe that the Sûreté was his family, and therefore sided with those who believed that by exposing the corruption and criminality of the Arnot faction, Gamache had done harm to the organization and deserved to be ruined. For Brébuf, it was more personal - "how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes," Gamache quoted to Jeanne during the final confrontation, and that was exactly the problem. Brébuf was unhappy, both personally and professionally, and realized that despite all the turmoil in his life, Gamache was both happy and content. Throughout their lives, Brébuf was the one who had always come out on top - he recalled at one point that he'd been a better athlete, found love first, had three grandchildren to Gamache's one, had prevailed when both of them had gone for the same promotion, and then recalling something he'd recently seen in a book, was struck by how few days of true happiness he'd had in his life. Then he looked at Gamache, whose career was in ruins, and despite everything, was happy and content, and at that moment, he decided that something had to be done about that, and set out to destroy his former best friend. As to why he and Lemieux showed up at the Hadley house during the final confrontation, that's ambiguous, to say the least. My speculation is that Gamache had earlier shown his willingness to resign in order to protect his family, but left without doing it after his confrontation with Francoeur. Immediately after that, Brébuf realized that his slip of the tongue had caused Gamache to realize the truth, and that it was now or never - possibly he was going to offer an ultimatum, that if Gamache gave him the letter of resignation on the spot, the attacks in the tabloids would stop. Lemieux, on the other hand, had other ideas and wanted Gamache dead, with the added advantage that if Brébuf did it, that would be something that could be held over his head in order to guarantee continued assistance with his upward career mobility. (less)

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Reviewers are mentioning this is part of a series. Is it recommended to start at the beginning of the series, or can I just pick up a copy of this one and start there? If the beginning is recommended, which one is the first one?

Catey You can technically read this one first/out of order because the mysteries are self-contained, but the character moments in this one will be more impa…moreYou can technically read this one first/out of order because the mysteries are self-contained, but the character moments in this one will be more impactful if you read in order! Reading this one first will also spoil you for some character development that happens over the first three books. The first is Still Life. Sorry if it's too late!(less)

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Do you need to read book 2 to follow this one?

Nancy F Walker A friend who recommended this series suggested that I read them in order. That's what I'm doing but I don't think it is absolutely necessary. There ar…moreA friend who recommended this series suggested that I read them in order. That's what I'm doing but I don't think it is absolutely necessary. There are references to previous cases, however. (less)

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Unanswered Questions (4)

How does Gamache, enjoying Easter Monday in a park with his family, read about the death in the morning papers, meet with Brebeuf, and still get from Montreal to Three Pines (2 hours away) by 'almost noon' that same morning-the morning after the death (end of Chpt. 11 and beginning of Chpt. 12)? Would La Presse's morning papers even have this information by the next day's early edition?

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Do you need to read Book 2 for this to make sense?

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