It's spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge. But something has. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns in the eighteenth book in Louise Penny's series.
The eeriest Gamache novel yet, A World of Curiosities is also one of Penny’s most intricately plotted and harrowing ... Even secondary plots are tinged with a supernatural aura ... Anyone who’s read Penny’s novels knows that as entertaining as they are, they are also charged inquiries into the actual evils that human beings and societies do ... Only a mystery writer of great stylistic range and moral depth could handle the demands of such a shifting — and potentially sensitive — story as this one. Fortunately, as she proves once again, Penny is all that and more.
Fiendishly elaborate plot ... A World of Curiosities is told in alternating past and present sections, as old crimes foreshadow current evils. Shocking events occur in quick succession. Chilling coincidences prove to be anything but chance. Eras blur and stories entwine ... This is a spooky and sometimes hair-raising book, perhaps Ms. Penny’s best. It offers a fine balance of humane values, spellbinding prose, Dickensian revelations and nail-biting suspense.
Heartwarming and heartbreaking. Love found and love lost. Evil and good. Crime and punishment. Family and foes ... Stellar ... Don't be afraid to dive into Penny's latest installment if you haven't read the previous books. You will get hooked, and eventually you will devour those stories, too.
