Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache is a dedicated detective who solves crimes along with some of Quebec’s finest.
But he is more than Quebec’s Chief Inspector. He’s also a husband, grandfather, foodie, philosopher, and teacher.
I was first introduced to Chief Inspector Armand Gamache while watching the series “Three Pines” on Amazon Prime Video.
Alfred Molina plays Gamache, and he is excellent.
The action takes place in the village of Three Pines, a quaint town in the middle of nowhere, Quebec, Canada.
Think of the dramedy Northern Exposure crossed with a good Agatha Christie whodunit, and you’ll come up with Three Pines.
Yes, there are quirky characters, and yes, crimes are being committed. What makes this crime series distinctive is that it devotes time to developing characters and background stories.
Three Pines Video Series and Books
The Amazon Prime series is based on the Inspector Gamache books, and the books are even better than the Amazon series. Here, author Louise Penny can go into details about meals that the characters enjoy.
“Armand and Reine-Marie ordered dinner at the bistro, arctic char for him with a mild orange sauce, while she ordered the pasta in herb butter, grated Romano, and lemon zest. A particular favorite.” –The Black Wolf.
Her food descriptions are so compelling that Penny even collaborated on a cookbook called The Nature of the Feast: Recipes from the World of Three Pines.
When I searched online, I found a PDF copy posted by MacMillan Publishing. You can check it out here. It includes food references from the Gamache books and recipes.
The (Back) Stories
Penny explains that her carefully crafted descriptions and back stories are meant to immerse the reader in a Quebecois experience.
“When I first started thinking about the books that would become the Chief Inspector Gamache novels there was a great deal I did not know. But, there were a few things I knew with certainty.
I knew I wanted you to not so much read the story, as to become a part of it. To walk beside Clara and Gabri and Ruth and Armand. To sit at the same table. To engage in the conversation.
To pass the bread and take ladles of soup from the tureen.
I wanted you to feel what it’s like to live in Québec. And to do that I needed to make the books sensuous,to engage all your senses. So that you smell the musky woodsmoke and feel the scrape of the cold against your cheeks. You hear the rustle of the leaves and see with clarity the village green. And you taste the food. That glorious Québécois cuisine.”
– Louise Penny, Letter to the Reader, The Nature of the Feast: Recipes from the World of Three Pines.
Penny Schools You
Then, there is Penny’s incorporation of Canadian history into many of her plots.
Did you know that Quebec City was invaded by the English, and the population remains divided between English and French Canadians?
Bury Your Dead will give you a short lesson on the invasion and occupation of Quebec City in the 1700s.
I loved this book not only for its description and memorable characters, but also because the plot is intertwined with the city’s history.
In her latest Gamache novel, The Black Wolf, Penny introduces us to the history of U.S.-Canadian relations and the towns of Derby Line and Jericho, Vermont.
Derby Line straddles the border, and Jericho is a U.S. town in Vermont about an hour and a half drive from the U.S.-Canadian border.
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is a working library and opera house built on the U.S.-Canadian border.
There is actually a line on the floor marking it!
This is where a pivotal scene in The Black Wolf takes place.
It’s so cool that Louise Penny keeps her stories real. Not only do you learn a lot, but the whodunits engage your inductive powers.
I think that Penny’s goal to create a series of sensuous thriller novels has been achieved in the Three Pines series. These are books for the thoughtful reader.
What more can you ask from an author?
