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And
weve had some other terrific news. The
Cruelest Month has been nominated for the prestigious
Anthony Award for Best Mystery Novel in the US!
The other nominees are:
| Trigger
City |
Sean
Chercover (William Morrow) |
| The
Brass Verdict |
Michael
Connelly (Little, Brown and Company) |
| Red
Knife |
William Kent Krueger (Atria) |
| The
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo |
Stieg
Larsson (Knopf) |
| The
Cruelest Month |
Louise Penny (Minotaur) |
As
well, The Cruelest Month has been nominated for a Macavity
Award, also for Best Mystery novel in the US.
Ive never been up for this award and its
a rare honour!
Both the Anthony and the Macavity will be announced
and presented at Boucheron, in October. A sincere
congratulations to all the nominees!

And more good news A Rule Against Murder
(The Murder Stone) has been named one of Booklists Top
Ten Mysteries of the Year. (Their year goes
from April to April). This following on A Rule
Against Murder making the New York Times Bestseller
list! And Marilyn Stasio gave it a great review
in the Times
New York Times
Louise Penny applies her magic touch to A RULE AGAINST
MURDER, giving the village mystery an elegance and depth
not often seen in this traditional genre. Although Penny
is no slouch at constructing a whodunit puzzle, her
great skill is her ability to create a charming mise-en-scene
and inhabit it with complex characters.
To read the full review click
here.
And
there's been a lot of other wonderful news about this
book. It was chosen as a prestigious IndieNext Pick,
Mystery Reader gave it 5 out of 5 stars.
The
Charlotte Observer has given it a rave review as did
Publisher's Weekly. Sarah Weinman made it a Pick
Of the Week, the Irish Times declared it a Hot Book,
the Toronto Globe and Mail named it the top mystery
in Canada in 2008. Marie Claire Magazine in the
UK gave it 4 out of 4 stars. And it received a
rare 3 starred reviews in these journals:
Starred Library Journal
Canadian
author Penny has garnered numerous awards for her elegant
literary mysteries featuring the urbane Armand Gamache,
chief police inspector from Quebec. Gamache is intelligent,
observant, and implacable, indispensable attributes
for the sophisticated detection that characterizes this
series....Pennys engaging, well-crafted mystery
probes the dynamics of a severely dysfunctional family
and the festering wounds that lead to its ultimate destruction.
Her psychological acumen, excellent prose, and ingenious
plotting make this essential reading for mystery lovers
and admirers of superb literary fiction. Fans of Dorothy
L. Sayers, P.D. James, and Elizabeth George will also
be delighted.
Starred Booklist
Readers
who havent discovered Louise Penny and her Armand
Gamache series yet are in for a treat
.Not only
are we treated to Pennys usual rich characterizations,
but the atmospheric and beautiful language will make
you want to take your next vacation at the Manoir
.One
of the best traditional mystery series currently being
published.
Kirkus
Review
This
latest treat in the series (The Cruelest Month, 2008,
etc.) will keep fans salivating in anticipation, savoring
each delectable morsel and yearning for more.

As
you might know, A RULE AGAINST MURDER is called THE
MURDER STONE in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa and India. But they're the same book.
Annoying, I know, but the publishers felt strongly that
their different readers would react better to the different
titles. Just, please, don't buy both books.
If you do, you'll probably figure out whodunnit.
A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE is the fourth
Chief Inspector Gamache mystery, and the last in the
seasonal cycle that began with STILL LIFE.
A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE is set over
the course of one summer week at the Manoir Bellechasse,
a remote luxury inn on the shores of Lac Massawippi,
in Quebec. It's to this inn that Armand Gamache has
brought Reine Marie to celebrate a wedding anniversary.
But while they're surrounded by nature, it soon becomes
clear there's something deeply unnatural there with
them. Perhaps it's the Finney family. Cultured, gracious,
the more they smile the more vicious they become. Perhaps
its one of the young workers at the remote Manoir, suffering
cabin fever so far from civilization.

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Guests go to the elegant old inn to escape the past.
But it comes looking for them. And as the stifling heat
closes in, as the humidity rises, as a terrible summer
storm approaches and crashes into the old log lodge,
it finds them. A body is discovered. It's up to Chief
Inspector Gamache and his team to figure out how the
victim could have been murdered, and who among them
did it.
The chase takes him to the village of Three Pines, into
the dark corners of his own past, and finally to a harrowing
climax.
'The mind is its own place,' Gamache quotes.
'And in itself Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell
of Heav'n.'
At the lovely Manoir Bellechasse he finds both.
I wrote A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE to
explore a number of themes. That of nature and civilization.
Of fathers and sons. Of perception and memory and the
power of the mind to create either Heaven or Hell. Of
the wildernesses we make for ourselves and the prisons
we put ourselves in.
But I also wrote it, and chose the Manoir Bellechasse
for a simpler reason.
As you might know, I was raised and weaned on Agatha
Christie and the other Golden Age mystery writers. I'm
so deeply in their debt. For hours and hours of comfort.
Of enjoyment. To escape into a world that seemed more
certain than my own. That gave me companionship in lonely
times. That kept me company when I was ill.
And finally, that inspired my own choice of career and
genre.
A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE and its hermetic
environment is a homage, a thank you, to Agatha, Ngaio,
Dorothy, Michael, Josephine, Georges.
And to you, for following Gamache through autumn, winter,
spring and now the summer of his life.
This brings a thank you from me. And a heartfelt hope
that you enjoy reading A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER
STONE.
You can see the pictures of the launch party for THE
MURDER STONE throughout the website, they were taken
by James Napier, who also gave the book a rave review
in his mystery books column in the Sherbrooke Record.
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Finally, like all the other Gamache books, this one isn't
about murder at all. It's not about evil or jealousies
or festering resentments, though all of those exist in
the book. At its heart A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER
STONE is about choices, and hope. And love. Enduring love.
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