Bury Your Dead

A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

By: Louise Penny

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

"Ralph Cosham’s excellent narration of Louise Penny’s newest mystery demonstrates why a terrific narrator is an author’s best partner." —AudioFile Magazine

Bury Your Dead is a novel about life and death—and all the mystery that remains—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is on break from duty in Three Pines to attend the famed Winter Carnival up north. He has arrived in this beautiful, freezing city not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. Still, violent death is inescapable—even here, in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society, where one obsessive academic’s quest for answers will lead Gamache down a dark path . . .

Meanwhile, Gamache is receiving disturbing news from his hometown village. Beloved bistro owner Olivier was recently convicted of murder but everyone—including Gamache—believes that he is innocent. Who is behind this sinister plot? Now it’s up to Gamache to solve this killer case . . . and relive a terrible event from his own past before he can begin to bury his dead.

“Few writers in any genre can match Penny’s ability to combine heartbreak and hope.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Crack another case with Chief Inspector Gamache.

©2010 Three Pines Creations, Inc. (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Ralph Cosham's excellent narration of Louise Penny's newest mystery demonstrates why a terrific narrator is an author's best partner…My only quibble is that the Penny-Cosham team kept me listening past my bedtime.” —AudioFile magazine

“This sixth entry in Agatha and Anthony award-winning author Penny's Armand Gamache series is among the best…The solution to both killings as well as the event that drew Gamache to Quebec in the first place are all slowly and expertly revealed.” —Library Journal

Possibly the best yet.

I’m so pleased to have found this series which was recommended by Audible. Chief Inspector Gamache is in in Quebec City this time. A fascinating story not to be missed. Stunning and compelling work. Intricate and heart rending.

Not as exciting as her usual.

Not as exciting but definitely a great read, she just sits the bar so high that sometimes she misses her mark.
But absolutely worth the read.

Brilliantly performed but a bit tedious

Ralph Cosham’s narration is mesmerizing. As the Three Pines voice, he sets the tone and the cadence of the story. This book is really in three parts, and while easy to follow the constant shifts from present to past, the research into Champlain’s burial site became tedious and detracted from any attempt to make this a who-done it. In the end, there is no crime solved in Old Quebec City…just an unlikely confession!

great characters

this novel couldn't be described as fast paced, but all other aspects of the book (plot, setting, characters, performance) were excellent. I am moving on to the next book in the series.

A warm, difficult, and rewarding read about life.

I love this series. A deep exploration of human feelings, relationships, personal challenges and more somehow always comes out of this seemingly simple village of Three Pines.

Love these books

The darkest of the these books I have read yet. I still love the characters and now they even have more depth.

The Great Gamache in Old Quebec

There are novels with heroes so perfect or predictable it ruins the book for me. I even find myself cringing while reading the synopsis of a new Gray Man, Mitch Rapp or Jack Ryan novel. I think that's why I fell in love with Harry Hole and Dept Q and now Armand Gamache.

Gamache, however, is remarkably different than Hole and Carl Mork. They are as belligerent, arrogant, self destructive and unpredictable as they are brilliant. Inspector Gamache is highly respected and revered by his family, peers, subordinates and superiors. He too is brilliant, but we are made privy to where and from whom it comes from. He is not an island. There's two other characteristics that make him so uniquely different for a lead detective, he is remarkably humble and vulnerable.

In Bury Your Dead, Gamache is on leave after suffering injury and PTSD from a recent case that ended violently and tragically. The details of this case are masterfully weaved around two separate murders revealed throughout the novel. To recooperate he's vacationing at the home of his retired mentor in Quebec while researching his first love, French Canadien history. A murdered man is discovered in the basement of the research library where Gamache studies. Given his reputation he is reluctantly drawn into the investigation.

And there's a nagging doubt about a previous mutrder in Three Pines that forces him to send back a key member of his team to quietly reopen the case. In this way, once again, we are brought into the remarkable lives of the villagers of Three Pines.

As always there's much more than murder afoot. Do yourself a favor and read this book!

A mini-masterpiece.

I've enjoyed the opportunity to experience Louise Penny's growth as an author with the Three Pines mysteries. Each book in this series gets better, and this one is a small masterpiece of construction, characterization and plot. I was completely entranced. Penny shows us the (for most of us) unfamiliar culture of Quebec, while also delving deeper into the central personalities that inhabit each of these novels. Armand Gamache is one of those rare characters that we want to spend time with, and he is complemented by his temperamental second-in-command. Unlike the other books in the series, (which are really cozy mysteries in the classic style) this one surprises with its violent, dramatic climax, told in a series of wrenching flashbacks. Mystery novels don't get much better than this!

The reader is wonderful too.

Wonderful Depth, Great Performance!

What made the experience of listening to Bury Your Dead the most enjoyable?

The depth to which these characters are developed. One feels as if they are personal friends, you know and love them right down to Henri.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot line was well developed. It really brought to light the internal struggles Gamache was dealing with as well as his fight to put it into a perspective he could exist with.

What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ralph Cosham brings the story to life! Really fine job! I am there in my imagination!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Gamache reliving the young agent's last hours.

Any additional comments?

Please keep them coming!

Outstanding mystery

I've been captivated by Chief Inspector Gamache since the first book in the series, but this mystery is by far the best one yet. Penney is masterful at slowly unwinding the details of three story lines simultaneously. The characters are so well defined that I cared about each one in each story line, and yet surprised by every twist and turn. Can't wait to read the next book. Though the book works as a stand alone story, it makes much more sense and will draw you in more if you read The Brutal Telling first.