A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Gamache, 4)

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The problem in solving the case, is that the family lives in their own world, refusing reality to enter. The last had been said about her, on her wedding day, as she’d walked down the aisle smiling and joyful on her father’s arm.

But A Rule Against Murder, to me, also represented prescient timing: the Bernie Madoff scandal had just broken, and Julia and David Martin represented the kind of devastating damage that can be done when avarice, an absence of ethics, and opportunity form a perfect storm. The morning arrives that the loathsome final pair of Finneys are to arrive, but to the Gamaches’ surprise and delight, it turns out to be Peter and Clara Morrow, who they know from Three Pines.It is the height of summer, and Armand Gamache and his wife are celebrating their wedding anniversary at an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. His head is bowed, and although he’s about to say something, whatever he’s seeing has literally turned him to stone.

With a killer surely amongst the group, it is not simply trying to find a motive strong enough to murder, but choosing which of many is most likely. Gamache’s reaction to mothballs is an example of a negative or traumatic memory without a visual image altho he still remembers that night vividly. Penny tells us in her acknowledgements that this is very much inspired by the real Manoir Hovey in North Hatley, Quebec, so if you want a taste of it yourself . Peter and Clara Morrow show up at the Manoir to be at a special family reunion of Peter's horrid family. After Madame Dubois and the Gamaches sooth the frightened child, Irene Finney scolds Bean and makes Bean apologize for trespassing—an apology that Madame Dubois does not want from the frightened little one.This book has two main themes: cowardice/bravery and, as Gamache says, “paradise lost”—having it all and losing it. His parents with their societal issues and their personal issues had certainly warped the lives of their children as we are shown time and again throughout this book.