The setting for this book - a luxury hotel in the middle of the countryside - left me wanting to go there (sans murder, of course). The food - oh my goodness, the food! Not to mention the attentive staff, library, luxurious beds... But it was nice to return to Three Pines now and again too.
As usual in these books (so far at least), the characters drive the story, and there's a great cast of them here. As well as Gamache and his team, there's the complicated (and frankly weird) family at the centre of the murder mystery, the staff of the hotel, and the now familiar residents of Three Pines. The author throws in several nice red herrings, and there's some more backstory about Inspector Gamache's family and his relationship with Jean-Guy Beauvoir, which I enjoyed.
I found the denouement of this story a little less satisfactory than that of the previous books, but still a book I would thoroughly recommend. 

 My favourite Inspector Gamache book so far (I know I have a lot to go). Inspector Gamache's own past comes to haunt him in a big way in this book, and I like how his story relates to the mystery he came to Three Pines to solve. Atmospheric, intriguing Can't wait to read more - the question is whether to rush right on to the next one or to pace myself! 

The mystery itself kept me guessing, and the descriptions of Three Pines, its' inhabitants, the weather - and the food - were a treat.

"A modern fairy tale" it says on the cover, and that is accurate.
Fay Orr is lost in modern London, cut off from her life by the death of her only daughter. Running through London late at night, she is drawn into the fantastic world of London Beyond, from where she sets out on a dangerous, puzzling and terrifying quest to find and restore her lost daughter.
Joanne Harris weaves song and myth into her story, always keeping at the centre a devastated mother who has lost her child.
Beautifully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins (although for someone like me, with a phobia of butterflies and moths, some pictures are disturbing!)

 

Well, it took me a long time to finish this, but I'm glad I persisted.
This book is a perfect illustration of how the past shapes the present, for good and bad. How colonialism and the attitude that the white man is superior shape the racism of today. But also how centuries of history shape the many black communities in Britain today, and how many black people made Britain their home in the past, and how their children and grandchildren and however-many-greats grandchildren are British.
This book looked at the big picture -thousands of people kidnapped and sold into slavery, for example - but also focused down to individuals and their stories.
A must for anyone who wants an antidote to the white-washed history many of us were taught, and who wants to understand more of the multiracial and multicultural Britain we live in today.

 

 The blackbirds come to the mulberry trees at night, and they sing if a member of the callow family bakes the pies, and bakes them right. And if you eat a piece of pie, you dream of dead loved ones. Oh, and there's a random car who turns up now and again and leads people where they need to go.
It's nonsense of course, but the author makes it believable, and weaves the legend in with the story of a family, and forgiveness, and coming home, and understanding.
Sweet as sugar, but not cloying. A lovely read.
And the southern accents in the audio version are just perfect (at least to my English ears.) 

 

30+ years ago, when I first read it, I would have given this book a solid 5 stars. But the older cynical me has dropped one. Why? There were too many things that just jarred with me as wrong. Penelope, the heroine, is seen by everyone, including herself, as old. She's 64! Did we really think of 64-year-olds as old in the 1980s. Two of her children are set up as "baddies", just after her money, but they are largely two-dimensional characters, and whilst their motives are understandable, they do seem rather two-dimensional characters. In contrast, the sympathetic characters are almost too good to be true. Particularly Antonia. If any 18-year-old was ever actually that self-c0ontrolled and adult it would be scary.
BUT - I did enjoy this book. The atmosphere of the different settings - particularly Cornwall in the War years - was perfect and evocative; I loved the to-and-fro in time structure of the book, and the story kept me interested to the end. (Even if the end was predictable.)

 

 Fascinating insight, both into the life of a family with six children with schizophrenia and into some of the science behind potential treatments. Lots on the nature vs, nurture debate, without really reaching a conclusion. Not a happy read, especially as the "unaffected" members of the family were as traumatised as the sick ones, but interesting. 

 

I really enjoyed this. Emoni is a likeable character, made mature for her age by circumstances, but still believable as a teen. I loved how she didn't try to hide or feel ashamed of the fact she was a teen mother, and how she was prepared to work hard for what she wanted and fight for what she needed. Her emotions and insecurities were very well portrayed , particularly her feelings for her father. And there was food - I love food books.