The Cruelest Month

A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Volume 3)

Louise Penny

Minotaur Books

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“Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie. . . . The book’s title is a metaphor not only for the month of April but also for Gamache’s personal and professional challenges---making this the series standout so far.” --Sarah Weinman

Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat.
     It’s spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth.  But not everything is meant to return to life. . .
     When some villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil---until one of their party dies of fright.  Was this a natural death, or was the victim somehow helped along?
     Brilliant, compassionate Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is called to investigate, in a case that will force him to face his own ghosts as well as those of a seemingly idyllic town where relationships are far more dangerous than they seem.

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THE CRUELLEST MONTH (Chapter 1)

Kneeling in the fragrant moist grass of the village green Clara Morrow carefully hid the Easter egg and thought about raisingthe dead, which she planned to do right after supper. Wiping a strand of hair from her face, she smeared bits of grass, mudand some other brown stuff that might not be mud into her tangled hair. All around, villagers wandered with their basketsof brightly colored eggs, looking for the perfect hiding places. Ruth Zardo sat on the bench in the middle of the green tossingthe eggs at random, though occasionally she'd haul off and peg someone

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Praise for The Cruelest Month

“Gamache is a prodigiously complicated and engaging hero, destined to become one of the classic detectives.”
---Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The cozy mystery has a graceful practitioner in Louise Penny.”
---The New York Times Book Review

“Don’t look for the hamlet of Three Pines anywhere on a map . . . although Louise Penny has made the town and its residents so real . . . that you might just try to find it.”
---The Chicago Tribune

“[A Fatal Grace] is not the usual ‘cosy’ or even a traditional puzzle mystery. It’s a finely written, intelligent, and observant book.”
---The Houston Chronicle

“A remarkable new writer . . . Louise Penny arrives with flair, humanity, and intrigue in her debut novel, Still Life. . . . Elegant writing alone would not carry this remarkable book; Penny also creates a puzzle worthy of the masters. But more important, she studies issues of good and evil, of human nature, of human kindness, and human cruelty.”
---The Richmond Times-Dispatch

“This cerebral mystery . . . is a rare treat.”
---People on Still Life

Reviews from Goodreads

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Judy  rated it  
Aug 14, 2010
I've really liked all of the Three Pines books written by Louise Penny, but this one stands out. Armand Gamache is called back to the tiny Quebec village after Madeleine Favreau dies during a seance in a supposedly haunted house that goes horribly wrong. The village of Three Pines is as close to a ...more
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Jeanusg  rated it  
Nov 15, 2009
All of the Armand Gamache books that I've read so far have been beautifully written. Gamache is a complex character -- not your usual police detective -- he has a humanity about him that's very intriguing. The village of Three Pines is a little like Cabot Cove of Jessica Fletcher fame -- how can a ...more
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Kayeb  rated it  
Apr 5, 2009
One of my favorites so far. Gamache is all so human, and still carries on with his job...

It's Easter, and on a glorious spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead! When C. I. Gamache of the Surete du Quebec arrives the next morning, ...more
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About the Author

Louise Penny

Louise Penny, author of the New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache novels, worked as an award-winning journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before leaving to write crime fiction. Her first mystery, Still Life, was the winner of the New Blood Dagger and the Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys Awards; and was also named one of the five Mystery/Crime Novels of the Decade by Deadly Pleasures magazine. Louise went on to become the first writer ever to win the Agatha Award for Best Novel four times, as well as an Anthony Award for The Brutal Telling and the Dilys, Arthur Ellis, Macavity, and Anthony Awards for Bury Your Dead. Her novels are bestsellers in the United States and Great Britain and have been translated into twenty languages. She lives with her husband, Michael, in a small village south of Montréal.

Louise Penny

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Louise Penny

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Available Formats and Book Details

The Cruelest Month
A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Volume 3)
Louise Penny

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
April 2011
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312573508
ISBN10: 0312573502
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 320 pages
$14.99
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Hardcover

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Hardcover
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
March 2008
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312352578
ISBN10: 0312352573
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 320 pages
$23.95
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Mass Market Paperbound

Learn more about this edition
Mass Market Paperbound
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
December 2008
Mass Market Paperbound
ISBN: 9780312944506
ISBN10: 0312944500
4 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches, 416 pages
$7.99

e-Book Agency

Learn more about this edition
e-Book Agency
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
March 2008
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429939812
ISBN10: 1429939818
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 320 pages
$9.99
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