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A Rule Against Murder

Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available

Wealthy, cultured, and respectable, the Finney family is the epitome of gentility. When Irene Finney and her four grown-up children arrive at the Manoir Bellechasse in the heat of summer, the hotel's staff spring into action. For the children have come to this idyllic lakeside retreat for a special occasion—a memorial has been organized to pay tribute to their late father. But as the heat wave gathers strength, it is not just the statue of an old man that is unveiled. Old secrets and bitter rivalries begin to surface, and the morning after the ceremony, a body is found. The family has another member to mourn.

A guest at the hotel, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache suddenly finds himself in the middle of a murder enquiry. The hotel is full of possible suspects—even the Manoir's staff have something to hide, and it's clear that the victim had many enemies. With its remote location, the lodge is a place where visitors come to escape their pasts ... until the past catches up with them.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 10, 2008
      Murder interrupts Chief Insp. Armand Gamache and his wife’s annual summer holiday at Quebec’s isolated, lake-front Manoir Bellechasse in Agatha-winner Penny’s intriguing, well-crafted fourth mystery (after 2008’s The Cruelest Month
      ). Irene Finney, the matriarch of a large eccentric family having a reunion at the Manoir, marks the event by having installed in the lodge’s garden a statue of the long-dead father of her middle-aged children. When the massive statue falls and crushes one of the daughters, Gamache investigates and discovers no love lost among the surviving offspring. Also in the suspect pool are Bellechasse’s owner, chef and maître d’. Despite the scorn the snobbish Finneys heap on Gamache’s sleuthing efforts as well as his own infamous family tree, the inspector treats them all respectfully as he seeks to bring a killer to justice. Seamless, often lyrical prose artfully reveals the characters’ flaws, dreams and blessings. Author tour.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 30, 2009
      Celebrated British narrator and actor Ralph Cosham brings this wonderful murder mystery to life and draws in listeners with his charisma. Penny's taut, darkly comedic tale features the Finney family, which has gathered for the installation of a statue of their long-dead patriarch. When the statue falls and kills one of his daughters, Insp. Armand Gamache (Cosham at his very best) must unravel the plot before it's too late. Cosham's characters are refreshingly original and never overplayed, and the Old World quality of his voice invokes radio murder mysteries from decades past, creating an endlessly entertaining listening experience. A Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 10).

    • AudioFile Magazine
      For some reason, Irene Morrow Finney has decided to erect an immense statue of her late husband at the Manoir Bellechasse, a Quebec resort hotel where she is re-uning with her extremely cross and jumpy middle-aged children. Fortuitously, Armand Gamache, chief homicide investigator for the province, is staying there too, just handy to investigate the murder of Julia Morrow, apparently by her father's statue. Agatha Christie fans will have a grand time with this carefully plotted, completely improbable puzzle. And Ralph Cosham will please old fans and gain new ones with his appealing voice, charming Quebecois accents, and expert characterizations and pacing. One minor complaint: he often fails to pause long enough to indicate a shift from one scene to the next, a far-from-fatal flaw. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 1, 2009
      Agatha Award-winning author Penny's (www.louisepenny.com) fourth "Three Pines" mysteryfollowing "The Cruelest Month" (2008), also available from Blackstone Audiowill captivate those listeners new to the series as well as devoted series followers. A murder intrudes on an anniversary celebration at a remote luxury inn in Quebec, and, in classic drawing-room style, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache can look only to the family and hotel staff for suspects. Listeners to Ralph Cosham's ("The Master") exquisite reading will not be surprised to learn he's won three Listen Up Awards from "Publishers Weekly". Highly recommended. [Audio clip available through www.blackstoneaudio.com; the Minotaur: St. Martin's hc, a "New York Times" best seller, received a starred review, "LJ" 12/08.Ed.]Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., Garrettsville, OH

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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