Since the library is having a reading competition, I’ve been visiting every week to borrow a book or two. And in the interest of being able to finish books fast enough (while making progress on my book haul), I’ve been trying to borrow mostly books that I know I’ll enjoy – like the next book in the Inspector Gamache series.

Retirement clearly cannot keep Armand Gamache down as he starts his new job as the commander of the academy that trains students to become Surete officers. He tries to do his best, changing the atmosphere of brutality and corruption to one that trains students to uphold the ideals of “Service, Integrity, Justice”. But when Leduc, the man who corrupted the academy, is found dead, four students are implicated. Before anything else can happen, Gamache removes the students to Three Pines and starts to investigate. Who killed Leduc and why is the mysterious map that the people of Three Pines found connected to the case?

I am enjoying Gamache’s re-appearance from retirement. The academy definitely isn’t the Surete, but it’s such a good fit for him. It’s pretty obvious that shaping the lives of young students to become officers that would uphold the Surete ideal is important to him and I wished there was a bit more space about his efforts to change the academy.

By the way, I went back and re-read parts of Bury Your Dead while reading this. I am pretty amazed that the incident that happened in book six is still having effects in book twelve. But thinking about it, it makes sense that something like that, which would be severely traumatising for everyone involved, would still impact Gamache and Jean Guy. Speaking of past books, we also finally tie up a few loose ends from How The Light Gets In, which is probably my favourite book of the series.

The mystery itself was pretty good. I’ve noticed that the last few mysteries all have roots in the past and this is no different. A Great Reckoning introduces Michel, an old friend turned enemy of Gamache. I’m used to seeing Gamache as this wise, very calm man so it was definitely interesting to see someone who gets under his skin so easily. It makes Gamache a little less of a sage and a lot more human, if you ask me.

I just checked and I’m two books away from catching up on this series. While I’m really loving all the books, I wouldn’t recommend people who are new to Louise Penny start with this or any of the later books. I think the latest you can start reading from is A Brutal Telling (the book just before Bury Your Dead) because it’s basically all linked from there. If you’re already a fan of the Inspector Gamache series, then you don’t need me to tell you that you need to read this one too.