The Nature of the Beast

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #11
Mystery
2015 Minatour Books
Finished on April 29, 2020
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village.

But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true.

And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet.

And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here.

A monster once visited Three Pines. And put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back.

Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.

I enjoyed The Nature of the Beast quite a bit better than the previous installment in Louise Penny's beloved series (The Long Way Home) and Ruth Zardo continues to be one of my favorite literary characters. This complicated mystery kept me guessing up until the very end and while I was eager to reach those final pages, I was sorry to say goodbye to Penny's wonderful cast of characters. So obviously, I quickly began reading the next in the series (A Great Reckoning). If one must shelter-in-place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I can't think of a better series on which to binge!