Genre: Book
Grade: A
Notable People: Louise Penny
Title: Kingdom of the Blind
Review: A magnificent rebound in the Gamache series for Penny after her previous work, “Still Life”, which was the least compelling in this wonderful series. Armand Gamache is on suspension as the head of the Quebec Surete (Provincial Police) and chasing all kinds of ghosts in the mystical village of Three Pines. The regular characters just get better and better and Penny is willing to go out on a limb to tackle real work problems and complex relationships in her fictional accounts. As always, the mind and heart of Gamache are the backbone of these books, and a magical exploration it is. Penny’s acknowledgment sections are surprising personal, frank and moving and make you feel like a valuable part of her writing (never experienced that before)- and in this one she movingly talks about coming back to these books after her husband, Michael (the inspiration for Gamache) died, and she had decided she would not continue the series….but her muse called, and she is back better than ever. These are don’t miss stories regardless of genre.