Persistent mixed feelings about this series. ( )

Book 13 Started a bit slow, but got better and better. KIRKUS REVIEWA dark, still figure, wearing long black robes and a hood, appears on the charming village green of Three Pines, a small Qu?bec town; though at first it seems scary but harmless, it turns out to be something much more sinister.The strange figure?s appearance coincides with a Halloween party at the local bistro, attended by the usual villagers but also four out-of-town guests. They are friends from the Universit? de Montr?al who meet for a yearly reunion at the B&B in Three Pines. But this event actually happened months ago, and village resident Armand Gamache, now head of the S?ret? du Qu?bec, is recounting the story from the witness stand in a courtroom suffering from oppressive summer heat. Gamache?s testimony becomes narrative, explaining how over the course of a few days the masked man grew into a fixture on the village green and morphed slowly into an omen. Gamache?s son-in-law and second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, is asked to research the ?dark thing?s? back story after one of the B&B guests, a journalist, mentions that the figure reminds him of story he did on an old Spanish tradition, that of the ?debt collector.? It becomes clear, as Gamache relays the events leading up to murder, that ?someone in the village had done something so horrific that a Conscience had been called.? But did the dark thing come for a villager or for one of their guests? Conscience is an overarching theme in Penny?s latest, seeping into the courtroom narrative as Gamache grapples with an enemy much larger than the dark thing, a war he took on as the new Chief Superintendent. His victory depends on the outcome, and the path, of this murder trial. While certain installments in Penny?s bestselling series take Gamache and his team to the far reaches of Qu?bec, others build their tension not with a chase but instead in the act of keeping still¥this is one such book. The tension has never been greater, and Gamache has sat for months waiting, and waiting, to act, with Conscience watching close by.A meticulously built mystery that follows a careful ascent toward a breaking point that will leave you breathless. It?s Three Pines as you have never seen it before.

(2017) Gamache is now Chief Superintendent of the Surete and is testifying in a murder trial in Montreal. The book shifts back and forth in time and place to Three Pines where a mysterious figure is haunting the landscape. A cobrador represents a guilty person's conscience but that is the mystery - who is guilty. Turns out the guilty party is also the head of the Canadian drug syndicate that is smuggling drugs across the border into the US. The climax occurs in Three Pines as a serious gun battle ensues between the Surete, and the US & Canadian syndicates. One of Gamache's own (LaCoste) is seriously wounded in the battle but manages to save Gamache and Beauvoir in foiling the drug smugglers. This is one of the best in the series so far (I keep saying this, but true). This book was finished after Penny's husband dies after battling dementia. Connie got this book at the author's talk & reading at Lone Tree (book is signed).KIRKUS REVIEWA dark, still figure, wearing long black robes and a hood, appears on the charming village green of Three Pines, a small Qu?bec town; though at first it seems scary but harmless, it turns out to be something much more sinister.The strange figure's appearance coincides with a Halloween party at the local bistro, attended by the usual villagers but also four out-of-town guests. They are friends from the Universit? de Montr?al who meet for a yearly reunion at the B&B in Three Pines. But this event actually happened months ago, and village resident Armand Gamache, now head of the S?ret? du Qu?bec, is recounting the story from the witness stand in a courtroom suffering from oppressive summer heat. Gamache's testimony becomes narrative, explaining how over the course of a few days the masked man grew into a fixture on the village green and morphed slowly into an omen. Gamache's son-in-law and second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, is asked to research the ?dark thing's? back story after one of the B&B guests, a journalist, mentions that the figure reminds him of story he did on an old Spanish tradition, that of the ?debt collector.? It becomes clear, as Gamache relays the events leading up to murder, that ?someone in the village had done something so horrific that a Conscience had been called.? But did the dark thing come for a villager or for one of their guests? Conscience is an overarching theme in Penny's latest, seeping into the courtroom narrative as Gamache grapples with an enemy much larger than the dark thing, a war he took on as the new Chief Superintendent. His victory depends on the outcome, and the path, of this murder trial. While certain installments in Penny's bestselling series take Gamache and his team to the far reaches of Qu?bec, others build their tension not with a chase but instead in the act of keeping still¥this is one such book. The tension has never been greater, and Gamache has sat for months waiting, and waiting, to act, with Conscience watching close by.A meticulously built mystery that follows a careful ascent toward a breaking point that will leave you breathless. It's Three Pines as you have never seen it before.Pub Date: Aug. 29th, 2017ISBN: 978-1-250-06619-0Page count: 400ppPublisher: MinotaurReview Posted Online: June 6th, 2017Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15th, 2017

Armand Gamache lives in Three Pines and has just been promoted to the head of Surete. The book opens with Gamache testifying for a jury sitting in judgement of a person accused of murder. He and the Crown's top attorney parry back and forth until the judge thinks something is not right. The back story is told as Gamache testifies. A mysterious figure appears the day after Halloween in Three Pines. They determine that he is a cobrador, an historical debt collector or conscience. When they find a body dressed as the cobrador in the church basement, Gamache and his team begin the process of solving the murder. ( )

This 13th book in the Armand Gamache series is an edge-of-your seat thriller that tackles a lot of very big issues--the illegal drug trade, organized crime, cartels and external manipulation of the legal system. I enjoyed the book, and it kept me going, but there were a lot of coincidences and unaddressed legal manipulations, I just can't see a sting of this complexity and as illegal as this one was, set up by any police force actually going forward anywhere. In fact, it is beyond belief and smacks of police corruption. I think it might be time to take a break from this series. I'm beginning to think too much Gamache is not a good thing. I get so angry with him and his "God-complex." At the same time this book is very well-written and the plot hung together remarkably. That is why I gave it four stars. ( )