A World of Curiosities: A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery, NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES CALLED THREE PINES

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Louise Penny twists and turns the plot expertly tripping the reader up just at the moment you think you might have solved the mystery’ DAILY EXPRESS A copy of a painting, the original of which is in England: The Paston Treasure, (yes, it’s a real painting) at Norwich Castle Museum, depicts objects from the collections of a local landed family. The Pastons established one of the most extensive cabinets of rarities and curiosities in seventeenth-century England—it boasted no fewer than six hundred decorative art objects, including shell cups, crystal vessels, a pair of crocodiles, gemstones, musical instruments, and paintings. Some guy (not revealed until later) makes a copy of this painting and has contemporary images superimposed on some of the original objects and hides it in a sealed room in a house in Three Pines. Anne Lamarque, a woman accused of being a witch in the 1670's, is honored as well as the 14 women slain in 1989 in Ruth's poem: I have a rule: I don't give 5 stars to series books. If a book is part of a larger series, I believe it needs to be judged on its merits and that of its fellow books. The highest I will go is 4.5 stars. A World of Curiosities” is Penny’s 18th novel, not counting “State of Terror,” the bestselling 2021 thriller she co-wrote with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Sir William Paston, first Baronet (1610–1663), the primary collector in the story and one of the possible commissioners of The Paston Treasure, was famous in his time for his extensive travels. Following the death of his first wife, Lady Katherine, and spurred it seems by an insatiable curiosity, he made an unusually extensive tour of Italy, Egypt, and the Middle East in 1638–39. Upon inheriting Oxnead Hall in the same decade—it was originally built by his distant uncle, the infamous sea captain Clement Paston in the 1560s—William eventually transformed the Tudor house into an Italianate villa, with classical sculpture and parterre gardens inspired by his journeys. His cousin, Thomas Knyvett, captured the atmosphere of the newly transformed Oxnead in a letter sent to his wife in February 1640, less than a year after Paston’s travels: Louise Penny succumbs to the Woke culture. There is little character development, almost no humor, the award winning style of her other books is entirely missing. The usual murder intertwined with Three Pines life and a social problem is abandoned. Now she spends her time arguing for gun control, better support for emotionally damaged children and other social problems in a manner that makes one think she is shaking her finger at you. This story is about pedophilia, of course supported by corrupt police and a killer the tortures his victims before decapitating them. Despite that darkness, or maybe because of it, this book rises above the seventeen that precede it—forcing me into a conundrum. This is a 5-star book, but I don’t give 5 stars to series books…right? I was just thinking about Anne Lamarque. . . She was punished for many things, including being happy. So I wanted to capture that. The power of it. Happiness as an act of defiance. A revolutionary act."Feels like Penny is taking the first steps into woman activism. Taking on misogyny, patriarchy, government complicity in perpetrating same is a grand and applauded endeavor. But it feels scattershot and ineffective in such a complicated story. And our beloved Three Pines women aren't the firebrand women rights champions we need for a story that covers that mission. I think that's why we see so many new women characters. Gamache isn't up to carrying that mission alone. Myrna had the best opportunity to lead this arc, but she is...in love. Feels as though that makes her less effective in the plot. The novel’s treatment of Fiona and Sam seems to suggest that goodness and badness are heritable and not a little bit inherent. It’s notable that the unlikable characters the series has “redeemed” like Beauvoir or Amelia Choquet become trustworthy and reliable through their adoration of Ga

Godyear, Sheena (5 Dec 2022). "How a Montreal Massacre survivor became a character in a Louise Penny detective novel". CBC.The objects were collected by Sir Robert and Sir William who made acquisitions on a long journey travelling through Europe and on to Cairo and Jerusalem. The collection consisted of over 200 objects and included many natural curiosities made into decorative art objects, such as mounted seashells and ostrich eggs. The painting was unknown for centuries, and before it was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum in 1947, its last owner warned that it was "very faded, of no artistic value, only curious from an archaeological point of view." [4] It is now on display, with the strombus shell in an enamelled mount, as part of the Norwich Castle Museum Collection.

But he, of course, did none of those things. Instead, with immense stillness, he continued to stare. To take in every detail. What could be seen, and what could not.

When the investigators inform Clothilde's children, Fiona (14) and Sam (10), the kids behave oddly. Afterwards the detectives learn the Arsenault home was so abusive the siblings might never recover. The detectives also sense something 'off' about the youngsters, with Gamache thinking Sam is a sociopath and Beauvoir believing the same about Fiona. Myrna's friends are aghast, and budding engineer Fiona suggests opening the attic room above Myrna's apartment. What?? What attic room?? Myrna knows nothing about an attic room. It frothed up the already tumultuous lake, creating waves on the waves. Shoving the dead woman ever forward, offering her to Gamache. Insisting he take her. Setting aside the absurdity of magical incantations, Harriet marshaled her rational self and entered the day.