The Brutal Telling

By: Louise Penny

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

Chaos is coming, old son.

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered.

Everybody goes to Olivier's Bistro - including a stranger whose murdered body is found on the floor. When Chief Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, he is dismayed to discover that Olivier's story is full of holes. Why are his fingerprints all over the cabin that's uncovered deep in the wilderness, with priceless antiques and the dead man's blood? And what other secrets and layers of lies are buried in the seemingly idyllic village?

Gamache follows a trail of clues and treasures - from first editions of Charlotte's Web and Jane Eyre to a spiderweb with a word mysteriously woven in it - into the woods and across the continent before returning to Three Pines to confront the truth and the final, brutal telling.

©2009 Louise Penny (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Intricacies of human nature

Wow. One of my favorites from the Gamache series. Louise Penny is an avid observer of the human heart and condition. Her stories build intreging characters and their complex human characteristics to get behind the real meaning of day to day choices and behavior. She weaves her stories by building on these characters, their joys and sorrows and SIN! Louise would not call these sins, but that is what they are... So real, so thoughtful, so easy to see yourself as one of these. All laid on top of a simple, believable plot. I love Penny's writing and always chose her books like choosing to sit with a friend. If I just can't decide what to read next, I simply pull out another Louise Penny book. Oh, and I adore the narrator too!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Gamache Doesn’t Disappoint

Once again, an engrossing story, twisty mystery, and this time with a bittersweet solution. On to the next murder in the very macabre Three Pines.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Another impressive Three Pines mystery

Paired with Ralph Cosham's narration, these are books I'm going to listen to over and over again. They bring me a sense of comfort like a Mister Roger's show did when I was a kid, while also being intellectually gripping with all the little backstories and history woven in there.

Love Louise Penny!

The series is wonderful, and I'm learning some French! Great story telling. I love the twists and turns. I love the character development. Excellent read.

Another good book

I am really happy to have another book and I love these characters and the stories

Best Gamache novel of the first 5

This, the 5th in the series, is the best Inspector Gamache novel since the first one - probably the best one I've read so far.

Compelling fifth trip with Inspector Gamache

This is the 5th book in the Inspector Gamache series. It's a complicated, slightly unfinished and not completely believable story written in an extraordinarily compelling way. A remarkable range of characters continues to be developed until it seems that each would be recognizable in the street walking by. We learn more about each, motivations, inner conflicts, and small pleasures. The insights ring true with a gentle kindness. When I read the first novel, I found the side trips that the author likes to take about art or poetry, or history or.....to be rather distracting but I have come to enjoy each twist and turn of these byways. This one tours the totems of the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, provides some insights into the inner world of antique dealing, relates the chaos in Berlin after the fall of the wall and more. I could not stop listening, listened immediately to some parts for a second time and have moved on to the sequel which will reportedly tie off the loose ends from this one.

My favorite Three Pines Mystery

This is my favorite of the first five in the Three Pines, Inspector Gamache series. Ralph Cosham is one of my all time favorite narrators!

Magic!

The Brutal Telling is a magical book. The story line depend the characters and our understanding of them. It is in cosy Three Pines, but the story rambles over Canada. Reading it, I understand why tourists like the Clintons want to visit. Read this book. If you have already read it, listen to it on Audible.

outstanding

the book get better and better. enjoy the details, complexity so that its not easy to figure out.