The Long Way Home: (A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Book 10)

This story is wonderfully woven, and also equally wonderfully unwoven as you read further into the book.Admittedly it's a slow burner, but that's the beauty of it - and that's Louise Penny's style, subtle mysteries that tantalize and tempt the reader with hints and clues slowly revealed here and there, and all without the relentless breakneck pace of so many other crime novels.For me, the feeling of immersion into the world of artists and painting was something I quite relished, this feeling growing the further I read.Such are Penny's marvelous delicious descriptions of the travels to find Peter, I really feel as if I've been on a journey with the characters, and this is one journey I would quite happily have stayed on for much longer.As for the ending, without giving away spoilers I shall just say I was moved to tears and quite honestly did not see it coming at all.Another brilliant installment in this series - I am one happy Three Pines fan, now that I have recovered from the very touching and sad conclusion to this novel.

I don't know whether the author has suffered some kind of breakdown or just run out of ideas, but this is a diabolical book.It's as if Ms Penny has swallowed a self help book or taken a course in rudimentary psychology.Self indulgent and ridiculous in equal measure.What a shame.

I love all the Inspector Gamache books, and although they can all be read as individual novels, you'd be missing a lot to not read them in sequence - this one in particular. I binge read them all last year and became totally immersed in the world of Three Pines and its people. The descriptions of people and place are very immediate and vivid. I would love to see the books made into a series of TV films - I often imagine who I would like to see playing the various parts - especially Armand Gamache, who sounds like such a lovely man.These are not fast-moving cop stories, but rather psychologically challenging, complex stories of human frailty and motivation, they are well written and deeply moving, and the people and their issues feel familiar and relatable. Louise Penny is a very satisfying writer - she covers plot, description and a satisfying personal need for relationship issues to be resolved that make me just want to keep reading her all the time!

I never thought I would struggle through one of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache books, I even skipped pages, lots of them, unheard of. I am such a fan of these books, I look forward all year to the next one and this one was my Christmas read. I didn't read any of the reviews deliberately I knew it was going to be great as they all are, I was so disappointed, I couldn't believe it, I thought it was me, not receptive enough, clever enough sensitive enough. I felt let down, not as much I did when I came across a TV film of Still Life with Nathanial Parker cast as Gamache though. Outrageous!I've been trying to think what went wrong for me. The writing is superb, lyrical, sheer poetry in places. I got bored with the endless philosophical discussions regarding the intent of the artist. The relentless repetition of the plight/woes/angst of the struggling painter. I felt that it sometimes came over as a lecture. I know that art and artists feature heavily in all Louise's books and I have enjoyed this element and learned a lot from it. The mystery was there but it was so convoluted that I lost interest. I didn't care if Peter Morrow was found or not and I'm still not a fan of Clara, (I keep trying to be!). Gamache is wonderful and Beauvouir is getting better and better.I am still a HUGE fan of Three Pines and everybody in it, still hope for Clara even. I've fallen in love with Henri, (Gamache's dog) even though he loves Rosa, (Ruth's duck). Maybe, I wonder, was it because the previous book, How The Light Gets In, was such a cracker I was expecting more? I will always rave over these books and recommend them to all, (just read them in order, essential), but this one was not for me.

This 10th novel in the inspector Gamache represents a change of pace after the previous one, How The Light Gets In. Gamache, now retired and living in Three Pines, is asked by Clara Morrow to help look for her estranged husband. Although the story begins in Three Pines, the investigation will take Gamache, Clara and others a long way from home before the story ends. This is a story about jealousy, art and searching for meaning. Louise Penny explores her themes in a subtle and nuanced way. Gamache is of course, wonderful as are all the familiar characters here. And the descriptions of place are superb, really drawing the reader in. Highly recommended although my top suggestion is to give yourself a treat and read the series in order.

Loved all the previous books in this serious but this is dreadful. It takes an awful lot to make me give up on a book, but this one defected me. It is well written in that the words are in the right place, no spelling or grammatical errors that I saw but as for the story, oh how tedious, self indulgent and just plain boring. Very very disappointed.

Normally when you start reading a novel you think you're going to go off into another world and escape reality for a while. With Louise Penny's novels and particularly with this one it's almost impossible not to turn the experience of the main characters inward and evaluate your own inner self. What are my motivations? Am I harbouring something that I'm afraid to show? Rather than escaping reality we are carefully and sensitively led to evaluate our own selves. Awesome read yet again!!!!

Louise Penny has the ability to fully write about you can "see and know" They have good and bad in them and conflicts like all people. Her incite into peoples character and reason for want they do is amazing. She sets her book in a little village that comes alive in your mind. AS with all her Gamache books it has Canadian history involved some fact some fantasy that make you look up the real story. I have read all her set except for Glass Houses, but this by far was my favorite. First review I have written in 40 years so not good at it but wanted to share my love of this series with everyone

I have been a fan of this series from day one so was very disappointed when I read this book. It opens with saccharin descriptions of Three Pines that reminded me of the kind of sentimental stories written by Louisa May Alcott and her peers. I half expected Amy and Jo to come out of the bistro. The focus this time was on Clara and Peter, two very unpleasant people, he with his jealousy of Clara's new-found success and she with a bad tempered, bossy attitude and for some reason a well-developed potty mouth that was not as evident in previous books. And then there was the requisite murder with an implausible reason for occurring and the execution of which was also impossible and seemed poorly thought out by the author as if she was winging it as she wrote then became desperate for a way to finish the book. The last chapter has a cheesy chase scene that rivals nothing and in the end I ended up disliking every single character that participated. Considering the quality writing of the previous books all I can say is what happened to this one?

Es ist nicht einer der herausragendsten Krimis von Louise Penny, aber der gewohnte Tiefgang macht das Buch dennoch lesenswert.

Wow! And I'll add more thoughts after I've come down a bit! OK - this is another excellent entry in the Armand Gamache saga and a quite different read from most of the previous books. In my opinion the few earlier books, such as The Beautiful Mystery, that did not have all the main story concentrated in Three Pines are the weakest in the series but this one has to rank as one of the best. Though I've never been in the Charlevoix/Lower North shore region of Quebec I've flown over it and been in the neighbouring regions of Labrador and Newfoundland so I'm a bit familiar with the topography and weather and was really drawn into the descriptions during the boat trip which were so real that I could almost smell the spray and feel the pounding of the ship in the storm. I guess the final outcome of this adventure was the way it had to be even though it wasn't my favourite choice of a conclusion. I do think the twist came as quite a surprise even though there were plenty of clues pointing to it all along. I really liked that my favourite character in this series, Ruth, got to play a big part in the investigation and Myrna was even more involved and actually used her professional training rather than just selling used books!This book more than any of the preceding books reemphasis the absolute necessity of reading this series in order because, as reviewers who have tried to start with this or another book in the middle of the saga have pointed out, it is impossible to understand the significance, motives, feelings and actions of any of the characters without having read all the previous books. Example - Ruth and why Rosa!!This book, unfortunately, seems to wind up all the loose threads in the series, except perhaps is Armand actually going to read on past the bookmark, and I can't see how Louise can find another story to carry on with in Three Pines but then she's pulled off so many miracles in this series already - who knows?

Once one begins to read any of Louse Penny's books, it can't be put down until read entirely and thoroughly. The characters are meaty and witty. The classical references make you want to pick up those classics again. This book is about art, specifically painting, jealousy, love, hate and forgiveness and of course murder. The writing is superb.

As with all Louise Penny’s books, I love the characters and Three Pines is a town I would move to in a minute. That is if it really existed which it doesn’t. But I could never give any of Ms. Penny’s books 5 stars. I’ve read 10 so far and not one has a plausible ending. But she writes beautifully.

Another excellent story from Louise Penny. I learned a lot about Quebec art and its artists and the lifestyle of the Quebecois living in some of the remote and rugged areas of the coastal north shore of Quebec.

More of a drama than a mystery. This wasn't as riveting for me as the other ones. The plot just wasn't that interesting to me and it easily could've been cut in half. In fact, this would've played better as a sub-plot to another story. There is a lot of psychobabble and character exploration – which was explored a few books ago. A lot of talk and little action until the near end. In fact, not reading this woudn't totally throw you off for the next book.

Louise Penny is a master at writing detective stoty. The reader can follow her character Gamache in beautiful Quebec (city and province) in a page-turner of a novel! If you liked the rest of her books, Louise Penny des it again!

Louise Penny, undoubtably a very good writer, who has the ability of placing you inside her vision, and endearing you not only to some of the people but also the captivating scenarios she writes about, all of a sudden, out of the blue,embarks on this dreary, uninteresting and implausible journey, wrecking the characters of Inspector Gamache and Jean Guy, in order to highlight Clara Morrow, one of the least likable of her characters on a quest that is as bland as repetitive and uninviting to read as a wall street percentage scale. I admit, I am partial , because I fell in love with Three Pines and the intelligent, sensitive manner she develops all her books...But, after the last one, so brilliant, to follow up with THIS, is really unexplainable. I hope she rereads her book and realizes why she disappointed so many of her fans..

The books preceding this are an immensely hard act to follow. The writing for this book remains top notch... but I can't help but feel that after ending her series so beautifully her last book, that she was under just too much pressure from fans and no doubt her publisher to bring the whole gang back for at least one more book (though now I see Gamache and co becoming the current day Ms. Marple)... Despite lacking the gritty underpinnings of addiction and strife in her early books, this feels like a reunion road trip for all the favourites... a sentimental love fest with a superficial murder plot to drive it along... BUT despite all that it is still beautifully written and a 4 star read... BUT if you want compelling 5 star reading begin at the start. Go get "Still Life" and read the series from the start... perhaps before realizing after writing such an amazing series, trying to write any sort of followup story would indeed be "a long way home"... (see what i did there?)

Once again Penny recreates the inhabitants of Three Pines. Her prose is beautiful, flowing, and offers lovely bites of insight into humanity. Humour is seeded throughout along with skillful character development. I so enjoy this series and the delightful characters Penny has created.

Louise Penny has reached her peak with the latest (and I hope not last!) Inspector Gamache novel. Readers familiar with How the Light Gets In and other recent Penny novels will recognize the careful attention she pays to the characters, their challenges and their relationships, as well as the depth of knowledge she has in the subject of the mystery. Having delved into music in How the Light Gets In, she now turns her attention back to the world of art, this time from the viewpoint of the artists's soul. As with every novel, the characters develop a bit more and their lives change. And there is her lovely, light, humorous touch. This book is a true page-turner, and altogether a very satisfying read.

The newest in the Inspector Gamache series is top notch as are all the books in the series. The Inspector has retired and we get to travel with him through his investigation of the disappearance of Peter Morrow. We experience his doubts and caring nature. We learn about his background and relationship with his father, experience and build a relationship with Clara, Myrna, Ruth. As usual we don't know the end til the end! A psychological twist and turn mystery. Excellent book. Thank you Louise Penny. I enjoyed every second of reading.