I always look forward to returning to Three Pines. This series is such a comfort read for me. Unfortunately though, this was not my favorite Louise Penny.
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It takes a really long time for the reader to figure out what exactly is going on in this one. I know this is intentional, and some element of confusion/suspense is exciting but, this took a little too long to get to the point. 
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Once I finally figured out what was going on, it felt like we were turning in circles. Gamache and the other investigators kept having the same conversations, the same speculations, and asking the same questions without really getting anywhere. Even the ending didn’t feel satisfying or “resolved” to me. I also question the inclusion or purpose of some of the characters in this one. However, I trust that Penny may have a plan for them in future books. 
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This one does have some trigger warnings that I was not aware of, and this caught me a little off guard. Definitely check into those so you go in knowing what to expect! 
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Even though this was not one of my favorites in the series, I still look forward to jumping back into Three Pines again in the future. If you’ve read this series, I’m curious which books are your favorites and which ones didn’t work as well for you?
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Wow!  An outstanding post-pandemic book.  The author wrote a profoundly human story involving legal, moral, and emotional elements of how society cares for our most vulnerable people.  It was difficult for me to have the book end.

I love Louise Penny, Three Pines, and Armand Gamache.  This book, however, might be my least favorite of the series.  It felt like there were 100 pages of Gamache pacing and wondering which one did it.  Abigail? Colette?  Abigail?  Colette? Vincent?  I found myself reading faster to get through that part. 

I did like the plot, centered on the moral quandaries and questions in the wake of the pandemic.  I wonder what kind of post-pandemic story Penny would tell now that we have lived some post pandemic months.  She wrote this in the height of the pandemic, wondering what the end would look like.  

I think I'll go back and reread the Gamache series beginning with the first one.  Most of her books I would give 5 stars.  This one was definitely an exception. 

Louise Penny really knocked it out of the park with this one. Gamache has a really excellent internal conflict that is reflected in his family members, and also in his suspects. Covid is used as a plot point and treated with the gravity it deserves while not being overwhelming to the story. Also I love this cast of characters. So good. Why does she make me want to live in this town where everyone dies???

I won this book in a book store raffle, I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, I’m keeping that in mind as I try to leave a fair review. The characters were interesting, unique, and likable. No two could be confused with each other by personality, though as someone who walked into the middle of this series I struggled to keep the names straight. One thing I’d nitpick about the character names is that, in Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card, he advised writers to use only one name for a character in the narration, while other characters could call them anything in the dialogue. The narrating third person bounces between first and last name and a combo of both at will. I think the narrating voice should have used only one name per character consistently. The characters had wonderful witty dialogue, Armand Gamache is a compelling and likable character, maybe even lovable since he seems to improve the people around him just by his example. The story feels very cozy, winter in a cute village where you can cross the street from your house to a bistro with a fireplace, staff and patrons  that are your friends, and delicious baked goods and hot drinks. It leads to it having a slower pace and some parts feeling unnecessary, but the writing was good enough for me to believe it was intentional and didn’t move me to skim or skip or DNF. The only thing that kept me from a four star review isn’t really a fault of the author. She started writing it in March 2020 as she mentions in the acknowledgements and I think the book was published in 2021. So in her fictional world the vaccine seems to be much more effective and people much more willing to get it so it’s mentioned briefly like ah the vaccine came and and saved us all and it’s fixed now. It’s more like wishful thinking on how the pandemic should have ended than the reality of it still being ongoing in 2023. Maybe if I read it sooner the plot and what professor Robinson wanted to do would have been shocking, but now with the Chernobyl-esque situation in Ohio with the train derailment and actual talk of women in vegetative states being used as baby incubators this story feels tame. I enjoyed it, I liked seeing so many characters thoughts and feelings on the matter, I loved the cozy town and deeply good people in the center of it, but as Marie Kondo taught me, it doesn’t inspire me to reread it or spark joy to see it on my shelf, so it hasn’t found a forever home in my modest bookcase. However I am open to exploring more from this author, probably via the library. (Thanks to Beach Books in Sea Side Oregon for the awesome raffle prizes!)