A World of Curiosities opens in the small village of Three Pines. A safe and secure place from the gruelling gritty work of murder investigation. What ghosts could interfere with that place of refuge for the Chief Inspector? Then, on the shores of cold Lac Plongeon, the body of Clotilde Arsenault, half out of the water, was discovered by two hikers.
Chief Inspector Gamache was a curiosity to Agent Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Banished to the basement of the Suréte by his superior, Jean-Guy was ensconced in a cramped office going through petty crime files. The Inspector brought this trouble maker up to work with him on a most difficult case. It was a pretty rocky start that became a solid working relationship. The Chief Inspector, as young Agent Gamache, had had his own frightening beginnings when his detachment was called to the scene of the Montréal Massacre at the École Polytechnique Murders. It was the place and time where his dislike of firearms grew.
The Chief Inspector, always curious and respectful about each person murdered, cared about their circumstances and their families. His empathy for the two children left without their mother was soon deepened when he learns of their circumstances. And their participation in unspeakable crimes. Where was their father? Thirteen and ten, they were completely traumatized, not only at the loss of their mother, but by their upbringing. Gamache was drawn to young Fiona, while Jean-Guy was drawn to her younger brother, Sam. Both children would play pivotal parts in this mystery.
Years later two women connected to murders, but with very divergent lives, would come together on the same graduation stage. Gamache knew both women well ~ one woman, Harriet, from Three Pines and one woman, Fiona, from prison. Louise Penny takes us through the many leads that her protagonist must follow ~ the dead ends, the questions that seem unanswerable, the people that are suspect. She takes us into a hidden room, bricked off centuries before, hiding a painting. At first glance the painting seems to be the famous The Paston Treasure. But it couldn’t be to be in this hidden room. It is deemed to be a forgery and has included clues for Gamache and his team to decipher.
In her Acknowledgements, Louise Penny writes that, in The World of Curiosities, she studies the theme of forgiveness. Forgiveness sought and forgiveness given.
“There’s always another story/There is more than meets the eye.”
~ Louise Penny, The World of Curiosities
Title: A World of Curiosities
Author: Louise Penny
Copyright: 2022
Publisher: Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
Type: Hard cover
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction
Format: Series: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
ISBN: 9781250145291 (hard cover)
LCCN: 2022033302
ISBN: 9781250145314 (ebook)
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