As the story opens, Olivier Brule is spending the evening with a friend in a log cabin in the woods near Three Pines. He is telling his friend a story, which seems almost mythical in depth of meaning. While meant to entertain, it also alarms his friend because it deals with catastrophes such as disease and famine.

The next morning Olivier and his partner Gabri are awakened by a phone call. Their friend Myrna Landers had noticed something strange as she passed their bistro/bed and breakfast on her morning walk. There appeared to be a body of a man lying on the floor. The victim cannot be identified by any of the three, although Myrna has had the presence of mind to phone the police. Because the Three Pines police do not investigate serious crimes on their own, Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete  du Quebec’s homicide division, is called in on the case. Except for crimes in which the perpetrator is obvious and almost begging to be arrested, Gamache believes the key to the puzzle is in the past. The past, he contends is where the crime actually began.

Although The Brutal Telling  can be read without any of the history of the village and villagers revealed in previous entries in the series, the story contained within the pages of this novel is much enhanced by having previously met them in the earlier books. Each inhabitant of Three Pines has a distinct, entertaining personality that it takes more than one adventure to get to know them.

Louise Penny’s novels could be classified as cozies or police procedurals, but in truth, they are a hybrid, crossover or a unique blend all their own. The author projects a sense of realism depicting life as it actually could be rather than an ideal or a stereotype. The events in the novel did not occur though there is little question but what they could have. The author has chosen to set some of the novels outside the village which makes sense. How much violent crime could one expect in a small peace loving community? Each novel tends to highlight one or another of the villagers and in doing so readers gain knowledge into the lives of these people prior to their appearance in Still Life, the first book in the series. This novel centers on Olivier Brule, who with his partner Gabri,  owns a bistro/ bed and breakfast in Three Pines.

The Brutal Telling is a mystery which deals with distinctive personality traits and emotions. It also emphasizes how one’s past life affects one’s present perspective. The puzzle of the book is the identity of the victim and how, since no one seems to know the man, he was able to incite such wrath that he would become a murder victim. There is a hint of humor in the story provided by Ruth Zardo,  an elderly poet who has a pet duck named Rose.  Ruth despite her years has an agile brain which she subtle employs through seemingly cryptic bits of verse she slips in strategic pockets.

Louise Penny is a clever writer who keeps her audience using its brain until the very last page. There are several conversations or observations where it is not at all clear who “he” or “she”  actually is although we know which people are present. I don’t think this is unintentional on the writer’s part. She is challenging her readers to use their brains as well. With such a restricted setting it seems difficult to come up with new and engaging plot lines. Ms. Penny seems to have not reached her limit as yet. The Brutal Telling is just as entertaining as her first.

--Andy Plonka