Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

When I discovered Armand Gamache, I was hooked. Something about his wisdom and inner peace along with an acute intelligence just made me want to know him more and more. Having read all the previous books, I feel this one meets all expectations. I was hooked from beginning to end and can't wait for the next one to come out.
The additional clip of an interview with Louise Penny was wonderful too. It was so great to hear her love of the characters and places and the fact that she sees the characters grow just as I do.

Ralph Cosham reprises his pitch-perfect narration of the Chief Inspector Gamache novels in Lousie Penny's new novel, Bury Your Dead. After listening to six ventures into the delicious world of Three Pines, Mr. Cosham IS Gamache to me. His vocal characterizations are never heavy-handed yet still distinct and engaging. Distinguishing the different characters is seamless and smooth for the listener.

It is well paced. Warning -- this is serious "driveway" listening -- if you are playing it in the car you will likely stay in your seat until the end of the chapter!


This is an exquisitely layered novel; deeper, more introspective and lyrical even than Ms. Penny's previous Gamache mysteries. We still spend some time in Three Pines, but a village more defined by its personalities than strict environment. Inspector Gamache takes us to Quebec City and shows us his thousand yard stare -- a stare that turns inside.


I particularly appreciated the history of Quebec Ms. Penny shows us -- Seven Years' War history is a favorite of mine and it is well covered from the perspective of the modern history buff.

I could not stop listening so for over 12hrs almost 13hrs. I was on Ms. Penny's wonderful mystery adventure. I like to check in with the residents of Three Pines to hear what exciting things are happening in the nice quite village that always has a murder to solve. This is a great addition to the Three Pines series.

Brilliant! I don't want to give the story away by saying too much. If you have not read or listened to “A Rule Against Murder” (book 5) I would suggest you do that before you do this one. “Bury Your Dead” contains a new murder, story, characters, but it also takes us back to the Hermit. Made me laugh. Made me cry. Absolutely wonderful! Ralph Cosham did a wonderful job narrating.

I've listened to all of the Chief Inspector Gamache novels, and this is the best so far. I enjoy series mysteries until the author tires of them and that fatigue becomes obvious. But Louise Penny obviously loves these characters, so not only is she not tired of them, she is actually in the early stages of romance with them, when we're still learning things about their character, their psychological makeup, their pasts and relationships. Bury Your Dead combines a search for the historical Samuel Champlain with the painful--and current--death of Agent Morin, the young agent who picked up the priceless violin in the "hermit's" cabin in the previous novel, and entranced his fellow officers with his gift. Penny explores Gamache's deep sense of responsibility for the young agent, who was soon to be married, and his anguish over the pain the failed operation has caused his second-in-command Jean Guy, and the other people in his department. Penny has created in Armand Gamache a character who is sufficiently flawed to be believably human, but one who represents the best that human beings can aspire to. I love these novels, and this is the best one yet!

Louise Penny continues to excel with each novel. This latest in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series is a tour de force. It's a complicated story, with essentially four narratives running parallel and often intersecting. There is the current murder to solve, that of an historian in the basement of the Literary and Historical Society. There is the previous mystery from Three Pines: that of the hermit in the woods, for which Olivier was convicted and sent to prison. And there is the shared experience of a case gone horribly wrong, an experience shared by Beauvoir and Gamache. While Gamache tries to solve the historian's murder, Beauvoir is in Three Pines to covertly and unofficially re-open the case of the previous murder. And while each man is on his separate journey, each remembers with well-placed flashbacks the case that almost killed them both. The flashbacks are an excruciating but pleasurable tease for the reader, because you don't know until near the very end what actually happened to Gamache and Beauvoir. Penny's deftly interlaces the flashbacks with current action, and Beauvoir's trip to Three Pines gives the reader some necessary comedic relief from the horror that is revealed through his memories. Cosham's narration is excellent as always. I am thoroughly spoiled by him, and hope that he will continue to narrate Penny's future Gamache novels.

I am an enthusiastic fan of Louise Penny and Chief Inspector Gamache. This particular entry in the series takes us away from Three Pines and to Quebec. This is a nice change of pace, and there's some lovely details about the history and culture of Quebec. Not perhaps the best introduction to the series -- you really should start with "Still Life", but a good addition to the series.

More than others in the series, it would be a mistake to read this novel before having completed its predecessor "The Brutal Telling". This story involves two apparently independent mysteries, the one being a follow-on to the conclusion of "The Brutal Telling," the other, being a hunt for the murderer of a controversial character Augustin Renaud, seeker of the grave of the founder of Quebec City, Samuel de Champlain.

To enjoy the Inspector Gamache series, you must like police procedurals and character development. Otherwise, you will find these plots slow to develop with lots of seemingly irrelevant side trails explored. However, along the way, you learn about the history and culture of Quebec, and meet some extremely interesting characters living in the remote village of Three Pines. The continuity of the series is as usual associated with the central characters, but these seem like real people who evolve and change with time. The mysteries almost take a second place to the characters and the context. The books are about friendship, growth, complex personalities, conflict resolution, and psychological flaws. Everyone is both good and bad, strong and weak, objective while prejudiced, emotionally frail in certain ways while courageous in others. The prose is wonderfully constructed and a pleasure to read.

Louise Penny has done it again. I absolutely love this series. The character development is so carefully done that you are drawn in to the lives of the characters and feel like a part of Three Pines. Can't wait for the next story featuring Gamache.

Bury Your Dead is a leisurely paced story, heavy with Quebec and Quebec City flavor, history, and lore. Several plots are threaded together around Chief Inspector Gamache including an historical episode which intrudes into the present. As I recall, there are now seven Inspector Gamache books. The second segment of the Bury Your Dead recording includes a revealing short interview with author Louise Penny. Narrator Cosham does a good job handling simultaneous dialogue amongst groups of characters. All in all, a very agreeable audible book choice.