A Great Reckoning

 A Great Reckoning

By Louise Penny

In my reading world, the arrival of December means an annual reunion with Armand Gamache and his

loyal cast of characters in Three Pines.

This edition finds the Gamaches living in Three Pines as Armand prepares to begin a new chapter of his career as Commander of the Sûretè Academy. I'm a little unclear about where this book falls chronologically in the Gamache bio, but I did read about how he took down the head of the police force, Franceour, who had been corrupt and filled its ranks with like-minded individuals. Gamache saw the academy as the training ground and ultimate source of this corruption, and his goal in taking it over was to right the ship, and restore order to the Quebec police force for years to come.

In what might be described as an act of arrogance, though, Gamache kept one of the most corrupt of the academy's faculty, Serge Leduc, on staff, and hired one of Franceour's right-hand men to join them. His reasoning was that the two might cancel each other out, and serve as living examples of the pitfalls of corruption. It didn't quite work out that way.

Shortly into Gamache's tenure, Leduc is murdered on campus. Gamache brings on his accomplice in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to serve as an independent witness to the investigation. Not surprisingly, he tries to peg the murder on Gamache. But just as he is about to make the arrest, Gamache, newly aware of just how twisted Leduc had been -- he made cadets play Russian roulette! -- proves his corruption and finds the real killer -- Franceour's former ally. Just in the nick of time, as per the usual.

So wonderful to be back in Penny's world again. She sure knows how to twist a tale. I found myself reading until well past my bedtime, which is just what I need this time of year. And after four -- five? -- of these books under my belt, the characters feel like old friends. Till next year...