Who could have been insane enough to try such a macabre method of murder—or brilliant enough to succeed?

And I won’t mention the sneaking-around backstabbing that seems to be going on behind our wonderful inspector over some previous case for which he’s in the doghouse. A Fatal Grace is the second Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery set in the stunning countryside of Quebec. Although there were the trademark astute one-liners such as: It was almost impossible to electrocute someone these days, unless you were the governor of Texas, it was hard to feel sympathetic to some characters because I had read ahead. Impulsively, Clara gives a package of food she’s just bought to the bag lady, who grasps her wrist and says, “I have always loved your art, Clara.

This is the third book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series that I have read and it is the second in the series. There are portions of this book that are so beautifully written they stick with the reader for months.

I remember how thrilling it was when she did win—but what I had forgotten, until Louise mentioned it recently, was that the awards banquet happened to fall on my birthday. And how saintly Gamache is, even though I can’t see it, because Penny tells me, but does not show it. Of course, the accident turns out to be no accident at all, and there are so many people who detested C. And it strikes me that, while certainly there would be exceptions to the rule, most of the people who enjoy hanging out in Scudder's New York aren't going to want to spend a lot of time in Gamache's Three Pines, and vice-versa.There, in the Canadian winter, you have to pile on the layers to try to retain what body heat there is, becoming barely acceptable in another ‘fashion’. This book sealed the deal on my deciding to continue on with the series as I was nicely surprised by the second offering. I was shocked by Clara ignoring the homeless woman when she's supposed to be so loving and generous and connected, but nobody else was.