We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode.

As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. 

Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode.

2:40 - Putting the Book Into Context

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

Publication date (2009)

4.21 rating on Goodreads

Seasonal setting - Summer

Book Awards: Crimewriters of Canada Award for Excellence in 2009

Critic Reviews

Alternate Title: The Murder Stone

Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book

9:25 - The Setup

8:46 - A Deeper Exploration

Setup and first paragraph

Perfect prologue - sets us up for Manoir Bellechasse, but then chapter 1 goes back to Three Pines shortly

An entire family of characters we as readers cannot really root for

Mic drop moments

Flimsy mystery, great building of suspense

The pacing of the novel

Quality of writing itself - last major action scene 

Themes: Rest, oppressive heat, paradise lost, prisons, things being unnatural, bravery in vulnerability

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

Still Life by Louise Penny

Character Development - Gamache’s misstep

57:08 - What Do We Need to Know?

History within the book as it pertains to reality

The Oddness Factor

1:07:11 - Superlatives

Biggest Flaw

Favorite Quote

Character MVP

Biggest loser

Best food description

1:22:37 - Within the Series

Is this book skippable?

Setting the foundation

1:23:34 - SPOILERS AHEAD HERE

Easter eggs to future books

Next episode’s read: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

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