A Trick of the Light (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #7)

by Louise Penny

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”

Armand Gamache knew no good ever came from putting up walls. What people mistook for safety was in fact captivity. And few things thrived in captivity.

“It’s a tiny village south of here. By the Vermont border. Not many people know it.”

“Maybe it isn’t hope at all,” said Marois, “but merely a trick of the light.”

But looking back, Clara knew that the fissure had widened. Some cracks let the light in. Some let the darkness out.

But such was the nature of dreams. They were not always recognizable, at first.

“She sounds like an emotional vampire,” said Myrna, at last. “A what?” “I ran into quite a few in my practice. People who sucked others dry. We all know them. We’re in their company and come away drained, for no apparent reason.”

Madame and Monsieur Dyson were gone now. They’d crossed over to that continent where grieving parents lived. It looked the same as the rest of the world, but wasn’t.

The sun broke through a small crack in the clouds. The embittered old poet turned her face to the sound and the light. Straining to see into the distance, something not quite there, not quite visible. And in her weary eyes there was a tiny dot. A glint, a gleam.