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“This is a mystery novel worth staying home for: Cancel
those weekend plans, crank up the air conditioner, and mute all electronic
devices. You’ll want plenty of silence and slow time to savor How the Light Gets In, the ninth novel
in Louise Penny’s extraordinary series.”
— Washington Post
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“With the grace of a
master prose stylist and the generosity born of a kind heart, Penny again
explores the mysteries of humanity in a novel that builds to a nerve-burning
climax, engages the mind in an examination of sin and redemption, and ends in
tears of relief. Suffused with brilliance on all levels, How the Light Gets In displays Penny at her beautiful and bountiful
best.”
— Richmond Times-Dispatch
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“Once again, Penny
delivers a masterful, nuanced suspense novel in which tone and setting are just
as riveting as the murderer’s who and why.”
— People (4 stars)
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“If you have not yet
made the acquaintance of Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Québec Homicide
Department, now is an excellent time to do so…Intriguing plot lines, marvelous
character development, and heavy atmospherics make this series a winner.”
— Christian Science Monitor
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“Penny writes with
grace and intelligence about complex people struggling with complex emotions.
But her great gift is her uncanny ability to describe what might seem
indescribable—the play of light, the sound of celestial music, a quiet sense of
peace.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Sophisticated and complex…Penny immerses the reader in a
high-suspense cyber-hacking drama emanating from the off-the-grid Three Pines
that proves not only pivotal but memorable…At the center of everything is
Gamache—a modest, smart, kind-hearted man whose empathy and warmth may be his
fatal flaw and certainly defy that of stereotypic crime-thriller detectives…You
buy into it…because, if it were true, this would somehow be a better world. And
you want it to be true, even if only in fiction. Sometimes that’s how the light
gets in.”
— USA Today
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“Louise Penny twists
and turns the plot, expertly tripping the reader up just at the moment you
think you might have solved the mystery. She excels with the characterization
of Armand Gamache. Creating through him a story of human perseverance in the
face of personal turmoil. He is a deeply complex character…Unrelentingly
fast-paced, it powers through its narrative with the force of a high-speed
train.”
— Daily Express (UK)
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“Louise Penny has done it again. Magic. Wonderful,
captivating, heart-pumping, edge-of-the-seat magic.”
— Huffington Post
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“Over the course of her career, Penny has won practically
every award that exists for mystery fiction, all richly deserved. She writes a
quiet mystery, more introspection and character study than thriller, and delves
into the deepest recesses of her characters with a clarity and intensity that
is both painful and perversely soothing. Her plots are woven as deftly as
characters, making this novel, like its predecessors, a joy to read.”
— Shelf Awareness
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“A magnificent writer who deftly and sympathetically explores the dark desires, pains and joys of the human heart in each immaculately crafted tale she writes.”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer
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“Masterful…Once again, Penny impressively balances personal courage and faith with heartbreaking choices and monstrous evil.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Highly recommended for mystery lovers, readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries, and those who like seeing good triumph and evil get its just desserts.”
— Library Journal (starred review)
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“Penny has always used setting to support theme brilliantly, but here she outdoes herself, contrasting light and dark, innocence and experience, goodness and evil both in the emotional lives of her characters and in the way those characters leave their footprints on the landscape. Another bravura performance from an author who has reinvented the village mystery as profoundly as Dashiell Hammett transformed the detective novel.”
— Booklist (starred review)
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“Three Pines, with its quirky tenants and luminous insights into trust and friendship…will hook readers and keep them hooked.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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“Louise Penny's Three Pines mysteries are eminently satisfying due to their imaginative variety. The stories include scenes of Montreal sophistication and gritty crime contrasted with the idyllic setting of Three Pines. There's also literary appeal, quirky humor, and – let's not forget – murder.
— AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner
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Penny writes engagingly whether you're reading her books or listening to them. An argument for the latter is that her characters – not the least being Gamache, the gentle, brilliant, introspective and beleaguered head of the Surete division – are enriched beyond description through the distinctive voice of reader Ralph Cosham
— The Star-Ledger
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Narrator Ralph Cosham moves seamlessly from character to character, adding depth to each; his narration, coupled with a suspenseful writing style, make for edge-of-your-seat listening. Highly recommended for series devotees or fans of literary mysteries.
— Library Journal, starred review
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An engrossing, well produced audio. The avuncular voice of narrator Ralph Cosham fully expresses the mood of wistful regret that permeates this ninth (and perhaps last) chronicle of Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec.
— Publishers Weekly
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Ralph Cosham narrates again, his voice now truly Gamache's and his pace perfectly matched to Penny's graceful prose.
— BookPage
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Cosham's masterful narration places listeners with Gamache in this emotion packed series entry.
— Booklist