Still, this is an enjoyable mystery, recommended to readers who like suspense novels, especially fans of Armand Gamache. Upon arrival at Manoir Bellechasse, the Gamaches learn that they will not have the solitude to which they are accustomed, as a family reunion brings much excitement and fills the rest of the rooms. The Morrows seemed to believe there was a special code that allowed them to say what they liked about others, deliberately within their hearing, without it’s being discourteous.

This is clumsy manipulation of a scene to create a red herring: someone in the family must have done it because Julia knows “the secret. If, like Pierre, Peter does have an inner howl, its roots are much, much more destructive and understandable to me now. Bean seems to be doing fine despite the scare, and the Gamaches feel certain that this wonderful yet strange child will thrive.

I like Clara a little less now; I like Peter almost not at all; and the Gamaches are aces in my book, though I suspect that Armand would wear on me if he's really like he was at the very, very end of this book. Finney sitting across the room to read to her children, but being a rejecting person is not merely about not being a touchy-feely person.

In a painful twist, the Morrows make the connection with Armand Gamache’s name – and his father, who we learn was a national disgrace during World War II. And you can count on them here for some spiteful digs at each other as all are investigated as possible murder suspects. There was enough enmity and viciousness directed at each other that I could see one of them offing Julia in a fit of anger. She tries to offer solace to the family, but finds herself either dismissed or the one to be comforted. Instead, most of the action occurs at the Manoir Bellechasse, a luxurious and remote Quebec Inn (patterned on the real Hovey Manor).

I just re-read some of the first pages of this discussion, (Part One), and see that yes, others have noticed this and commented on it. Irene Finney insists that she must see her daughter—a request to which Gamache eventually relents later in the day after the Sûreté de Quebec arrive—and she sees with utter horror her first daughter, killed inexplicably by the statue of her late husband.