A World of Curiosities (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #18) [B1475-PB]

2023 PB in nice clean condition. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns in the eighteenth book in #1 New York Times bestseller Louise Penny's beloved series. It's spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge. But something has. As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sureté du Québec investigators' lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they've arrived in the village of Three Pines. But to what end? Gamache and Beauvoir's memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother's murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt? As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up. As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there's more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge. In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache's home.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I have read all of the Gamache books, and this is one of the best. It is much darker and disturbing than some prior ones, but the multitude of events and characters make it mesmerizing. It ties in real events and art, delivers the backstory on how Beauvoir and Gamache initially began their collaboration, and brings back many characters from older books in the series. I was kept guessing to the end as many possibilities were introduced."; "Louise Penny never fails to deliver. This books is a page turner from start to finish. As usual, Louise Penny weaves real people and events into a fascinating mystery with twists and turns around every corner."; "This is my second book that revolves around the Quebec Sureté and the characters of Armand, Reine-Marie, etc. Louise Penny brings these people to life and the book had me guessing until its final pages. Part psychological thriller, part murder mystery, and definitely character driven. A great read and now I am curious to go back to the earlier books to get the back story of all these folks!"