The Long Way Home

I always anticipate the arrival of a new Louise Penny installment of the Inspector Gamache series with curiosity and high expectations for luscious dining. Apparently, a lot of people agree, for her last couple of books have debuted at first position on the NYT Bestseller list. She is such a fine writer of character, place and plot that it is just pure pleasure to read her novels. And, by now, all these characters have become so familiar and beloved. Clara's husband Peter is missing. They separated over a year ago and promised each other they would reconnect in a year. So far there has only been silence and Clara fears the worst. She is reluctant to voice her fears to the Armand, who is now retired and living in Three Pines. But he cannot let the disappearance go uninvestigated. And so begins a journey through the mind of Peter Morrow, who apparently has gone on a  globe-trotting pilgrimage to recover his artistic soul. Myrna, Clara, Jean Guy and even Ruth all pursue leads through old art school faculty and Peter's estranged family to finally locate his likely destination, in an out of the way town in the back of Quebec. It remains unclear almost to the very end who has the "sin sick soul" and what terrible deeds he has  wrought, but eventually Peter and Clara are reunited, just for a moment. It is a bittersweet ending. I cannot recommend these books enough--read them in order starting with Still Life! She continues to delve into the hearts and minds of her characters--very human and very fallible-- and make them even more remarkable and engaging. Penny has had her own life challenges in dealing with her husband's encroaching Alzheimer's disease, and her humanity absolutely shines through.