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.
For Penny, the novel is a narrative tour de force, drawing brilliantly on some dark moments in Québec history and leading Gamache and the residents of Three Pines to a hard-won, thoroughly unsentimental recognition that forgiveness is our most powerful magic.
Brilliant and addictive. While it begins slowly as Penny is creating the backstory, that narrative becomes all-important later in the novel when the action and the connections are so fast and furious that it's almost impossible to put the book down ... As longtime fans of Penny know, we expect elegance in her writing, and we certainly are not disappointed ... The writing is filled with reflection and deep truths about life, especially when it comes to women ... Can a novel be elegant and beautiful yet horribly violent? Penny achieves that juxtaposition just as she forces us to feel the gamut of human emotions ... As I turned the last page, I had mixed emotions. I was satisfied that Gamache had managed to prevail, but I also wanted to go back and reread the whole book to see what clues I had missed about the outcome ... The story is so filled with details and characters that it would take a meticulous reader to catch everything.
Penny’s 18th Gamache novel (after All the Devils Are Here) is intense ... The darkness in this intricately plotted story forces readers to search for contrasting moments of hope.
Nuanced characterization with nail-biting suspense ... Penny adds crucial details about Gamache’s backstory and satisfactorily resolves a plotline tease from earlier in the series. This tale of forgiveness and redemption will resonate with many.
The plotting is complex and the characters as vivid as ever, but the opportunity to watch Gamache and Beauvoir's relationship develop is what makes this book one of Penny's best. Penny will have you turning the pages as fast as you can to see how she'll manage to tie everything together.
