Carolyn's Reviews > Kingdom of the Blind

It's lovely to be back in Three Pines with all Louise Penny's wonderful and quirky characters that we've come to know so well over the series. This time it's winter and the village is coated in snow and there is much consuming of hot chocolate and warming foods as residents concentrate on keeping warm. Just before a blizzard hits Gamache and Myrna are called out to a crumbling farmhouse to discover that they as well as a young carpenter from Montreal have been liquidators of an extraordinary will. None of them can recall the person who died, a cleaner called Bertha Baumgartner, or work out why they were chosen as liquidators and the mystery deepens further when a body is later found in the house.

Gamache is still on suspension from the Sûréte after trapping a major drug ring six months ago but allowing a huge shipment of deadly new opiods to slip through the net. He is determined to somehow stop the drugs hitting the streets and is continuing to hunt for them undercover despite his suspension. His son-in-law Jean-Guy, now the Acting Head of the Sûréte is torn between supporting Gamache and keeping the politicians handling the enquiry into Gamache on side.

Louise Penny has delivered another magnificent addition to this series. Her charming characters are as full as life as ever and there is much wit and love in her rendering of them. Gamache has lost none of his sharpness and strength and is a force to be reckoned with. It was also good to see Isabelle back on her feet since her terrible head wound and to meet some new characters. I'm so glad Louise Penny decided to keep writing this series and can't wait to see what's in store next for my favourite characters.