4 1/2 Three Pines is a village in Canada that can not be found n any map, yet reading her mysteries is like coming home and revisiting friends you have not seen for a while. Penny mixes regular people and their human failings with humor, love and insight. Her story lines explore the mystery needing to be solved with psychological insights into their motives and personalities. Just love her writing.

Flavia’s followers will know that I’m a huge fan of Louise Penny, who has now won – among many other awards – an astonishing four consecutive Agatha Awards for her Armand Gamache series.A new book from Louise is like Christmas in summer – a treat to be eked out and made to last. Interested?Well, fetch the fireworks! Send up the skyrockets! – today is publication day for “A Trick of the Light”, the seventh in the series, and I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on it.Since Louise is, in many wa...

4 art opening starsI can hardly believe that this one is #7 in the series, there continues to be great character development and I really like the continuing story. These characters are fully formed with flaws and good qualities.Clara has her long-awaited art show at the main museum in Montreal and her husband Peter is green with jealousy. At the after-party back in Three Pines, a woman turns up dead in Clara and Peter's garden. Turns out the woman was not well-liked and had quite a few enemies....

A Trick of the Light (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #7)by Louise Penny, Ralph Cosham (Narrator)I feel like such a kid when the characters are talking about art...my eyes glaze over. There is a painting of Ruth, the foul mouthed, old, crazy woman and people are discussing with such awe, the dot in one of her eyes. I don't get it at all but then at the end of the book, all the sudden I do get it and I loved what I understood. That's the thing about the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. It's

I have no idea why I want to grab the next book in this series the minute I am closing the current one. Let's face it, the series has become quite formulaic and the characters are all the same. Yet, after every book I still want to pack my bags and move to the murder capital of Canada, namely Three Pines. For such a small town, it is really riddled with violent deaths. The only reason why it is known is for its murders. The town was never surveyed; it is no where to be found on any GPS or sat na...

Inspector Gamache is my favourite mystery/crime series and the only one in the genre that I got so far. It is a mixture of cosy crime story, psychology, wonderful characters and darkness, more than you would expect from this genre. As I wrote before, I highly recommend starting from the beginning with this series as the personal life of characters has an important role in the development of the plot. On the evening of Clarra Morrow’s first art vernissage, someone is killed during the after party...

Without a doubt, this is the best book I've read so far in this series (they must be read in order, but don't worry the whole series is lovely). What can I say about this book? After the last book took us outside of the town of Three Pines, I was happy to return to it and all it's murderous wonder. Truly the town does have a murder problem, but if you ignore that inconvenient fact I would absolutely live in this completely fictional place. It's all about the townspeople, I mean characters. This

The Hook - I almost feel guilty about the review I am going to write about A Trick of Light. I feel guilty because Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache Novels are winning awards all over the board for best mystery writing and yet, the mystery is secondary to me. It is hard to determine what is most important in this series, the humor, the people, the locale or references to art, food, nature or in this case, the exploration of light and dark and all its connotations. My pleasure comes not from the solv...

4.5★“But there was more to Three Pines than magic. Something monstrous had roamed the village green, had eaten the food and danced among them. Something dark had joined the party that night. And produced not magic but murder.”I just left the bitter cold and stink of Henry VIII’s turbulent England to take respite in Three Pines. I was looking forward to some drinks by the fire and some special bistro meals, but of course, each time Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûret...

After a great deal of self-exploration in the past novel, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is back in another police procedural penned by the fabulous Louise Penny. After a long career as an artist, Three Pines resident Clara Morrow has secured a solo exhibition of her work at a high-end gallery in Montreal. Many of the big names in the local and international art scene have flocked to see what is going on, including Gamache and his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir. Eager to see the reviews th...

This is definitely a series which is improved by reading the books in order. By this stage, book 7, the reader and the characters have become friends and Three Pines a place to look forward to visiting.I really enjoyed A Trick of the Light and read it in one evening though I must admit I stayed up very late indeed to finish it! I was well rewarded though by that last little bit about Ruth. I do hope it really is what she has been waiting for!The theme of this book is probably forgiveness and the...

3.5 starsIn this 7th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the detective investigates a murder at a barbeque. The book can be read as a standalone, but knowing the background of the characters is beneficial.*****There's excitement in the tiny Quebec town of Three Pines when long-time resident, artist Clara Morrow, is scheduled to have her first vernissage at the prestigious Musée D'art Contemporain de Montreal. Clara has been painting away, unheralded, for years - and now her geni...

This is another well-written and suspenseful installment in this wonderful series. I never tire of Louse Penny's stories. It's been rewarding to follow and keep up with Gamache and his newest endeavors, and Three Pines is a welcome place. I love the humor and warmth in Louise Penny's writing. I'm ready to read number 8! Thanks to Goodreads, the author, and the publisher, I received a complimentary copy of this book.

An Intriguing Whodunit.The author has won several awards for her novels, and after reading A Trick of the Light, my first crime novel purchased in several years, I can appreciate why. I enjoyed this book very much as the story had an intriguing murder mystery to solve along with several interesting characters each with their own sorrows and tales to divulge. Move over Detective Poirot, Chief Inspector Gamache is indeed a force to be reckoned with.

Louise Penny is thought-provoking and memorable. I only admire Ruth for loving animals and was sad to read of her duck migrating south, simultaneous to our missing cat. We know the pain of praying daily, for a beloved family member to get home for three years. I did not expect “A Trick Of The Light” to earn five stars. We wonder through most of it, if a victim was malicious or contrite. She was Clara’s backstabbing school chum, the impetus for Peter’s first jealous act towards Clara’s talent. Th...

4 starsLouise Penny just won't quit with this series of all-star reads. My friends and family are tired of hearing about her, and my bookshelf is groaning under the weight of all the books I'm collecting at top speed. I just can't encapsulate with words how much joy, hope, and happiness I get from reading these books. A Trick of the Light is #7 in the series featuring Canadian detective Armand Gamache and the cast of characters in the small village of Three Pines, located south of Montreal. In t...