Review: The Tenderness of Wolves: A Novel

Author: Stef Penney
Publisher/Format: Simon & Schuster (2008), 371 pages;
                               ISIS audiobooks: 14 discs- approx 14 hr, 45 min
Narrators: Sally Armstrong, Adam Sims
Characters: Francis Ross, Laurent Jammet, Donald Moody, William Parker
Subject: Murder, trade, wildlife, winter survival; Hudson Bay Trading Company
Setting: Canadian Wildnerness, mid 1800's
Genre: historical fiction; mystery
Source: public library

Stef Penny's debut work is a layered, multi-faceted, intricately woven story of love, betrayal, greed, murder, and survival.  Set in the frigid lands of northern Canada, the story revolves around the murder of a French trader, Laurent Jammet, and the search for his missing friend Francis Ross.  Did Francis kill him?  Is that why he hasn't been seen since Jammet's body was found?  Since both the victim and the missing boy are at least loosely connected to the Hudson Bay trading company, and since the company seems to have territorial jurisdiction over the area, the company's factors and magistrates undertake to determine what happened and why.

Central to the story is Francis' mother, Mrs. Ross (we never learn her first name), and she is a major narrator.  The other point of view comes in the third person from Donald Moody (the company's accountant), Francis himself, and from various Norwegian settlers who appear in about the middle of the book.

This one is a slow starter, but that pace allows the reader to absorb the many intertwined lives and facts needed to carry the story forward.  It is incredibly well-written.  In spite of the numerous story lines, and a large number of characters, all the characters are well defined, and the back stories fill out the plot as it marches inexorably to its climax. All along the reader experiences the bitter, numbing, killing cold, the blinding sun on snow, the howling wind, the soul squelching weather elements making life as barren as it was for both humans and animals.  Bleak landscapes are blended with human kindness, as well as greed and deceit to build the tension as the search moves further and further into the wilderness.  The ending is stunning, not unexpected but well portrayed and believable.

This is a masterful piece of storytelling, sure to please the outdoorsman, the romantic, and those who love a good mystery.  It came to my attention from the readers in the 75 book challenge on LibraryThing.

Review: A Rule Against Murder

While this novel by Canadian Louise Penny is an Inspector Armand Gamache mystery, it is not set in Three Pines as were the others.  It is however, every bit as tightly plotted, exquisitely written, and spell-binding as her others.

Gamache takes his beautiful wife Reine Marie to the idyllic rustic Manoir Bellechasse to celebrate their wedding anniversary (it is where they spent the first night of their honeymoon).  While he's there another family has taken over the rest of the lodge, and it soon becomes apparent that these people do not like each other very much.  They are there to commemorate their deceased father by unveiling and dedicating a statue to him.

As one would expect, there is a murder on site, and Gamache (along with his second in command, Jean-Guy Beaumont) goes about the ugly task of interviewing this most unhappy group of visitors and staff to solve the mystery.  They are an intriguing group: the chef who looks familiar to Jean Guy, and Reine Marie, the aloof maitre d', the surly summer hire, the shy and nervous gardener, the sons of the deceased (one a total snob, the other --well---), the widow of the deceased (who has re-married) and her husband, the daughter of the deceased and her child (we must question whether a child named "Bean" is male or female--I won't tell) and the proprietess who owns and runs the shop. 

Add in the ex-son-in-law (sitting in a Vancouver jail for investment fraud) and Gamache's struggles with his memories of his deceased father and this book becomes one with layer upon layer of complexity.  It is frankly magnificent.

Although this is not set in Three Pines, Penny manages to involve the villagers (Peter is the son of the deceased pater who is being memorialized) and she evokes the quiet, beautiful wilderness that is the hallmark of the other books in the series.

I think Louise Penny is going to be this generation's Agatha Christie.  She is that good.  I love her characters, I love her settings, and she is masterful at developing plot lines.  If you haven't read any of her books, take it from TUTU...you must.  It will be on my list of Best Reads of the Year for sure.

Review: The Brutal Telling

Louise Penny has done it again. This latest story of a murder investigation set in the village of Three Pines outside of Quebec continues our acquaintance with the inhabitants of these small town, and with the crack homicide investigating team of the Surete Quebec, led by the urbane Chief Inspector Gamache. New characters are added, and old ones we've met in previous books in this series come under suspicion when an old man is found dead in the village bistro. No one will admit to knowing who he was or how he came to be there. Penny's stories are not the run of the mill mysteries. They include elements of fantasy, psychology, history, art, poetry, and politics. Like previous ones in this series, this one is incredibly plotted, with several suspects, and a richly developed cast of characters (including the resident lunatic poet who dresses her pet duck in different outfits everyday). Gamache and his team must not only identify the deceased, but determine the motivation that led to his murder. The quest takes him from Quebec all the way to the northernmost islands off British Columbia. Thru that trek, we are treated to the history of early inhabitants of the island. This is one of her best, and there's no way to explain the plot without doing spoilers. If you enjoyed her earlier Gamache mysteries, you won't be disappointed in this one. If you've not read Penny before, starting here is as good as it gets.