Review of "A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Mystery" by Louise Penny

In this 15th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the detective is once again set to become Head of Homicide of the Sûreté du Québec. The book can be read as a standalone but familiarity with the series is a plus.

*****



Armand Gamache, who resides in the Canadian village of Three Pines, was Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec until he engineered a risky drug operation. The plan succeeded, but at a terrible cost. As a result, self-serving politicians suspended Gamache for 9 months, demoted him to Chief Inspector, and offered him his old job as Head of Homicide.



It was assumed that Gamache would resign rather than submit to this 'humiliation' but no such luck for the vile politicos. Gamache happily accepts the offer to be Head of Homicide, and as the book opens, it's his first day back at work.

As it happens Gamache's former mentee (and current son-in-law) Jean-Guy Beauvoir is currently Head of Homicide, but Jean-Guy and his family are moving to Paris in two weeks. Until then, Beauvoir and Gamache will run the department together.



As Gamache returns to work, vicious Twitter trolls gleefully put him down, call him filthy names, and practically call for his assassination. And Gamache isn't the only resident of Three Pines under attack. Tweets about artist Clara Morrow, who recently produced a set of (unpopular) miniatures, are saying she's a no-talent hack whose previous success was a fluke.



When Gamache arrives at the Sûreté for his first day of work, he knows the homicide detectives have been reading the hate-filled Tweets, and joking and gossiping about him, but he brushes it off.



And it's a good thing, because a new case comes in almost immediately. During the morning briefing, Agent Lisette Cloutier's cell phone buzzes away with texts from her friend Homer Godin, saying his pregnant married daughter Vivienne is missing.



Gamache and Cloutier hurry over to Vivienne's house to look around and interview her husband Carl Tracey. It's immediately obvious that dirty, disheveled, foul-mouthed Tracey is a nasty scumbag who abuses his wife, and the detectives suspect he did SOMETHING to Vivienne, though it's not clear what.



While the detectives are searching for Vivienne, an environmental crisis is developing. Spring thaws and moving chunks of ice are filling the rivers to record high levels, and massive floods will be the inevitable result.



Drastic measures are needed, and Gamache's suggestions are quickly lampooned by the politicians who want to take him down. Regardless, government agencies and private citizens take measures to deal with the water situation, like dynamiting dams and arranging sandbags.

The investigation of Vivienne's disappearance turns up additional persons of interest, and the case has overtones of adultery, unrequited love, and domestic violence. Still, Gamache and his colleagues are almost certain that Carl Tracey harmed his wife, and a good part of the book follows their maneuvers as they try to prove it.

In the meantime, Vivienne's father Homer Godin threatens to kill Tracey himself. Gamache is anxious to keep this from happening, so he invites Homer to Three Pines, hoping his wife Reign-Marie will look after the grieving father and keep him calm.



This doesn't quite work out, and at one point Homer is arrested while Carl Tracey walks free - which is the height of irony. 😏

Meanwhile, Clara Morrow sadly laments her current reputation as an artist who's lost her spark, and wonders what to do next. Some Three Pines residents try to cheer up and/or help Clara, including innkeepers Olivier and Gabri;



bookstore owner Myrna;



and irascible, dirty-mouth poet Ruth.



Their efforts have mixed results, but do introduce us to a quirky African American art critic from Brooklyn, called Domenica Oddly.



It's always entertaining to visit the locals in Three Pines, including Ruth's duck Rosa, whose 'quack quack quack' sounds a lot like 'f**k, f**k, f**k.' (Like mother, like daughter. LOL)



Vivienne's case is resolved eventually, but not before lives are endangered and surprises come to light.

For me, this is only a moderately successful addition to the Armand Gamache series. It's more of a legal procedural than a typical mystery, and the legal wrangling is more drawn out than necessary.

On a personal note, I'm tired of the theme of corrupt Sûreté officials, dirty politicians, and (now) disgusting Twitter trolls out to get Gamache. The 'war' against Gamache has been going on for years and years (in Penney's books) and it's time to put it to rest in my opinion.

That said, many reviewers love this book, and fans of the series would probably enjoy it.

Rating: 3 stars