For myself, I find Ruth Zardo, “the old poet” with the foul mouth and the pet duck named Rosa (who goes around making a sound very like ‘cluck cluck’) supremely irritating. However, we were not all unduly fond of those same characters. There was general acknowledgement of Penny’s skill in creating a world and filling it with memorable characters. And yet….You probably know where this is heading.Ībly led by Mike, Usual Suspects recently discussed A Great Reckoning, and well, our sentiments were decidedly mixed. If you look at her entry on Stop! You’re Killing Me, you’ll see that her books have garnered numerous awards and nominations.Ĭritics and reviewers routinely fall all over themselves in the search for superlatives to apply to the novels in this series.

Indeed, the mass of fans gathered for this particular book signing event is large and impressive. They’ve come all the way to the Canadian town of Knowlton, in the eastern townships of Quebec, where Penny lives, and her books are set. To say they come from far and wide in large numbers to attend her book events is no exaggeration. In it, Martha Teichner muses, “There should be a name for fans of Louise Penny’s murder mysteries: The L Pack, or the Penny Posse maybe.” She goes on: The series is deep and grand and altogether extraordinary.įrom Maureen Corrigan’s review in The Washington Post, entitled “There’s a bit of Nancy Drew in Louise Penny’s masterful ‘A Great Reckoning’”įinally, there’s a video segment that was aired on CBS Sunday Morning in July, on the occasion of the release of The Great Reckoning. Marilyn Stasio, from her review of The Great Reckoning in The New York Times. She’s pure bile”) and Clara Morrow, the dotty artist (“Have you ever seen a self-portrait where the person didn’t look just a littlw insane?”).

Septemat 7:10 pm ( Book clubs, Book review, books, Mystery fiction)ĭespite the theme of defiled innocence that makes this such a mournful story, the immense charm of the Gamache series survives in the magical setting and feisty residents of Three Pines, like the cranky old poet Ruth Zardo (“Bile. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny: a book group discussion

A great reckoning by louise penny