The Long Way Home

Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 10

By: Louise Penny

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he'd only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. "There is a balm in Gilead," his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the dust jacket, "to make the wounded whole."

While Gamache doesn't talk about his wounds and his balm, Clara tells him about hers. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache's help to find him. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. "There’s power enough in Heaven," he finishes the quote as he contemplates the quiet village, "to cure a sin-sick soul." And then he gets up. And joins her.

Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence river. To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it The land God gave to Cain. And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul.

©2014 Three Pines Creations, Inc. (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

Au renoir Ralph

I will miss your comforting, patient voice, always. There is no like. Peace be with you.

Penny gets better and better

What made the experience of listening to The Long Way Home the most enjoyable?

The reader is phenomenal - his voice for Gamache is perfect. Although I've never been to Quebec, I'm entranced by Penny's descriptions and obvious love for the landscape and people. This book spent time in a new location - by the St Lawrence river - and we also learned about a famous Quebecois painter.

What other book might you compare The Long Way Home to and why?

The only other mystery writer that compares is P.D. James

Which character – as performed by Ralph Cosham – was your favorite?

Gamache, Beauvoir, and Ruth

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It makes me homesick for a place I've never been!

Any additional comments?

I really think you need to read these books in order - you need to understand the past of some of the characters to really understand their motives in this book (particularly Ruth).

a different Gamache tale but still a good listen

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is now retired after ending the previous book battered and bruised, mentally and physically and living in Three Pines getting healthy. And a different kind of mystery finds its way to him in the form of a missing person. He is asked by Clara Morrow to help find her overdue husband, Peter. So, Gamache's natural investigative instincts get involved. Since this has been on the surface a series about crime this book was different in that no crime has been committed. The author's books have never been intense crime thrillers and this book solidifies that what her books are really about are life and human nature. And, she throws in some Canadian history and geography, this time eastern Quebec up the St Lawrence River almost to the Atlantic Ocean. Still the tale of Three Pines and its characters continues and I'll look forward to the next one. As an aside, the narrator of the books up to this point, Ralph Gosham, died after finishing this book. To many, including me, he had become the voice of Armand Gamache. It will be interesting and tricky I'd guess to see how the publisher replaces the narrator.

Love the series and love this book

Louise Penny is genius, writing very smart and interesting stories about the Three Pines world. This book is captivating in its mystery plot and is beautifully put together.

Ralph Cosham is perfect. No, really - absolutely perfect. He was always amazing narrating this series, but I especially enjoyed his interpretation of this book.

I listen to a lot of murder mystery/police serial books. This series is my favourite.

Friends I've never met but know in my heart

This series has been a pleasure to listen to. Too bad we have to wait for the next installment. For me the true measure of a story is sorrow that it's ended. Many books I've longed to skip to the end and admit to often giving in to the desire to be done and move on. This entire series has been calming and joyful. It reminds me of reading Anne of Green Gables as a girl. The characters are vivid and real in my mind as I listen. I like that the author doesn't get bogged down being too descriptive, though at times she can be repetitive. I also like that there's a gap in time between one ending and the next beginning. I'm not sure who can do justice to the narration since the death of Ralph Cosham. I trust Louise Penny will have a say and do a good job.

Loved The Message

As usual an intriguing Gamache mystery by Louise Penny. While not necessary to enjoy the book, reading the whole series in order makes the reading experience far more gratifying. Before listening to this I made a bargain with myself to re-read the rest of the series, primarily because the details flow so well from one book to the next, all culminating with the current reading. Although I also admit to reading "A Trick of the Light" first, not realizing it was part of a series, and wanting to experience the whole story in order, taking in clues and meanings previously missed as I flew through each book. I'm glad I made that decision. What I enjoy most about Penny's writing are the messages intertwined in each book, pecking away at issues we all face in life at one time or another, making for great reflection on life.
As for this story, those subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, messages meant more than the actual mystery. This is the first time I figured out "who done it" far before Gamache. But perhaps Penny intended this to happen, hoping to take the reader further than the story itself.
This is the first time I listened to, rather than read, the mystery. Made for great entertainment as I completed my daily 5 miles walk! Ready for the next one.

For Diehard Fans Only

This book contains many delightful sections. Check out the Garden of Cosmic Speculation! (A real place). But about a fourth of the verbiage needed to be excised. Penny MUST go on and on about past events from preceding books, wax poetic at length about Gamache and Beauvoir’s emotional scars, recycle the characters’ major signifiers (had Ruth saved Rosa, or had Rosa saved Ruth)? The solution to the murder was ridiculous.

Another winner! Louise Penny books are addictive.

Loved this book...no surprise! I look forward to getting to know more about the characters in each read!

I think Louise has 10th muse

I actually hope Louise’s muse is all of us here on Audible; a combined positive force that we put out in energy to her and to Ralph the narrator. I can’t even imagine reading this in paper print it just doesn’t seem possible to match the magic and do justice to the work let alone evoke the intense emotional responses I have listening to Ralph bring 3 Pines alive. Louise and Ralph are two people who have brought a whole new world into mine. I was asked recently by a facebook prompt what fictional character I would want to be... I said Ruth Zardo. of course... well I must be off I know there’s a scotch waiting for me somewhere. ( insert Rosa’s typical response here ). p.s. I saw some of the mugs that you have on the website but what I’m looking for is my 3 pounds T-shirt with the three pine trees on the front and the back would have a saying, your choice of expletives depending on what your favorite phrases would be throughout all the series. sometimes it’s “!I’d rather be at three Pines “or on the front perhaps “got croissant and café ole’ “ ? And then on the back it would be three Pines bistro logo. Or just to keep calm and call Gamache

Alrighty then! A different type of story for the Three Pines community.

Oh my gosh, I was missing the drama of the murder. However, excellent detecting happened regardless.