‘Dead Cold’ by Louise Penny
Published by ISIS Audio Books.
ISBN 978-0-7531-3662-1 (9 Cassettes)
Read by Adam Sims

BOT-P-Dead ColdThis book was released in the U.S. as A Fatal Grace.  I listened to it on audio, something I really enjoy when a character with a foreign accent is involved.  The book is set in Quebec and I hadn’t read/heard a book using that setting before. 

CC de Poitiers is a woman everyone loves to hate.  Yet she heads a company whose function is to teach the world to ‘be calm’.  In fact, that’s her motto and the name of the company.  But the woman whose picture appears in stark white on the cover of her book is in reality very dark.  She sucks the life out of anyone who comes too close to her. 

But how did someone manage to electrocute her during a curling game with practically the entire town looking on?  That’s the challenge for Inspector Armand Gamache and his team.  But Gamache, strong, calm, logical, is under fire from his superiors who make solving any case difficult for him.  He’ll need the help of residents of the small, beautiful village of Three Pines, where CC lived and died.  Penny does an excellent job of portraying the town and its residents, from talented photographer Clara to crabby poet, Ruth. 

Can Gamache find the killer, not only of CC de Poiters, but of an elderly homeless woman?  Is the death of one of CC’s lovers in a house fire murder or accident? Why do Gamache’s superiors want to bring down one of their best case solvers? Are any of Gamache’s own team involved in the effort?  Good mystery, terrific characters, wonderful setting.

Adam Sims does an excellent job of vocalising the drama of the story and conveying the different accents of the characters in a believable way. I enjoyed listening to him reading the book
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Lonnie Cruse