A Trick of the Light

by Louise Penny
Scott County Library audiobook 9 CDs
read by Ralph Cosham
genre: murder mystery

This is another Inspector Gamache / Three Pines mystery. There are things I love about this series and things that bug me. I honestly liked the very first one I "read" the best of all so far! (Book 5 - Bury Your Dead).

This one had an interesting theme of marriage and couples (and separations). Enid and Jean-Guy are separated. Jean-Guy is in love with Annie (Gamache) and finds out that she and her husband David are going to separate. Armand and Rene-Marie. Peter and Clara Morrow. The husband and wife artist team who were snarky at Clara's show. Inspector Brunelle and her husband Jerome.


There's also the ongoing use of poetry throughout her books. Ruth's poems, but also ones that Gamache's dad recited to him and that he recited to his own children.

I laughed at someone being referred to as an "emotional vampire" even though I don't remember which character this was about. The dead woman, probably. Lilian.

I also laughed at Beauvoir lying about his identification as an art critic for Le Monde while at the vernissage with all the snooty art world people! Funny! (I intuited what a "vernissage" was from context clues, but had to look it up just now to learn how to spell it! Blogger says it's wrong . . . I'm pretty sure it's just French. )

Ugh! I did not like the references to Clara's painting of the Virgin Mary / Ruth as "an angry old woman, forgotten, bitter . . . " Scripture clearly indicates that Jesus asked John to take care of his mother. The "irreligious" aspect of her books bothers me, as does some of the overly dramatic writing and responses of characters we know (to the point where their thoughts or words seem out of character!) Yet I continue to read her books!

Serenity Prayer / AA / Courage to Change . . . Not sure why I made note of this. It was interesting, if a bit skewed in tone (to the negative, I thought).

I liked the conversation that Beauvoir and Gamache had in the car, but was surprised by the end of the book at how much more talking they still need to do to work through some issues! I guess I'll have to keep reading the series.

Chiaroscuro, schadenfreude . . . dude! This almost made me feel illiterate! Good thing I love words so much!

"Do people change?" This was a key question in the case and in this story. I didn't love how she handled the answer, but that's me reading my perspective into the story again!

Ugh again. Psychology. Jean Guy watching the video on mega-repeat. Thinking that Gamache "left him to die." Taking more painkillers than he should and lying about it. Time to order the next book in the series.