A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (2007, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

Louise Penny’s second police procedural featuring Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec will leave listeners eager for a third. Beautifully written and ingeniously plotted, it also boasts crackling dialogue and a host of interesting full-dimensional characters, none of whom is exactly what each first appears to be.

CC de Poitiers, a loathsome and entirely self-absorbed pretentious social climber, is electrocuted at an outdoor public curling contest. Nobody in the small town of Three Pines is sorry about this, even once it is determined that her death was not accidental. To the contrary: they are all pleased she’s out of the way. If anybody ever deserved to be murdered, CC did, and Gamache must discover and examine the townspeople’s secrets to solve his case. Comparisons with Christie are inevitable, but the novel is fresh and original. Reader Ralph Cosham does very little character differentiation, but his soft-spoken performance complements the gentle and analytical Gamache, while his tone perfectly conveys the dark and sinister undercurrents through which the Inspector must swim.

Don’t miss this one!