The Long Way Home

Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 10

By: Louise Penny

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

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

Finale! Really?

This is the final book in the Inspector Gamache series and I have to say, the weakest.
The series, overall, is the best mystery series -written this century-That I've read.
The individual installments are each a fully realized mystery in itself, as well as being an installment in the ongoing underlying mystery that hangs over Gamache like a storm cloud. The first few books were so heavy with this subtle sense of impending doom, it actually made me edgy while I was reading them!
These books are very dear, very special, because the characters are presented as human, flawed, hopeful, bitter or kind...and there's this very rich atmosphere one become immersed in while reading...The main character is unlike any other super homicide detective ever. He adores his wife and daughter, he looks like an English professor, he reads poetry...he is loving and wise. He has built an elite homicide squad out of a hand picked bunch of black sheep. Officers who had been ignored, ridiculed and marginalized for being "different", Until Gamache found them. Now they're the best detectives in the Surete. He has their undying loyalty. But somebody out there wants him gone, and they seem bent on destroying his precious squad too...
This is the only installment I can't give 5 stars to. Maybe the author got tired of the storyline??? Was she pressured to produce quickly?
I can't understand how after all those fantastic books, THIS is our finale.

Could it best the best one yet?!?!

Where does The Long Way Home rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the most enjoyable mystery series I've listened to! Inspector Gamache and the villagers of Three Pines are funny, quirky, smart, and so lovable!

You must listen 2 this

Loved it!! GREAT story.. Ralph will always be Inspector Gamache to me. Thanks Louise

Nice departure from the last books in the series

I was curious about how the series was going to adjust with Gamache in retirement. I liked the storyline.

A little slow and long, but quality excellent.

Did struggle a bit to finish, compared to other in the series. Recommend Author, still.