The Cephalopod Coffeehouse August 2014 monthly meeting

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.   Please go to this link if you wish to join in the fun. The Armchair Squid.  

During the month of August I read 10 books, a couple were novellas and disappointing, out of these 10 books, two were not very good (the novellas), three were an OK read, four were quite good reads and one was outstanding which I will review here. 

So my choice to share with other book lovers this month is 

The Murder Stone (A Chief Inspector Garmache Mystery Book 4).

It is also published under the title A Rule Against Murder. 

5*

Approx: 428 pages

Product Review from Google Books:

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. But they’re not alone. The Finney family—rich, cultured, and respectable—has also arrived for a celebration of their own…

As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the Finney reunion…and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. Now it’s up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth long-buried secrets and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines—into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax.

This is the fourth book in the Inspector Gamache series set in and around the village of Three Pines.  This story takes place in a remote hotel on the other side of the mountain from Three Pines called the Manoir Bellchasse where Armand Gamache and his wife are celebrating their wedding anniversary with a few days away.    

The Finney family arrive to stay for a family reunion at this hotel. One of the family members is unfortunately murdered and Inspector Gamache has to admit he is a police officer and brings in his team to help solve the murder. 

Louise Penny’s descriptions of the hotel, the background of the building, the owner, the staff and the paying guests are eloquently described so that you feel as though you are there.  The height of summer, the heat, the thunder storm that happens, the feelings of the main characters and the secondary characters all have equal thought put in to them. 

As usual with a murder mystery there are twists and turns, red herrings to lead you down various paths all written in a believable manner.   The means of the murder is unusual, the how is not revealed until the last few pages when all the threads are pulled together neatly. 

We learn more of the family background of Inspector Gamache and his small team, with prejudices showing up from bigoted people.

A highly recommended read.