How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

"Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack, a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in."   
   -Leonard Cohen, excerpt from "Anthem"

There is an interesting story as to how I came to read this book, not too long I hope. Someone loaned me the novel months ago---I don't remember who. That was after we read Glass Houses by this author in October, 2019. I didn't particularly enjoy Glass Houses so this one was gathering dust on a shelf for a while. Only a few months ago I heard a portion of Leonard Cohen's "Anthem" used as a TV commercial and became intrigued enough to look up the lyrics. I liked it so much I posted it to Facebook. When I rediscovered How the Light Gets In on the bookshelf, I was quite curious as to how the author chose her title. Plus over a period of time, several of my book-loving friends have mentioned Louise Penny as a favorite author. So there you go...That's the story.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like this novel any more than the first I read by Penny. She apparently has written 9 or more in the series involving Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec. Obviously folks who have read several would be much more familiar with the fictional Canadian small town of Three Pines and the many characters who populate it. So I was often confused but also became intrigued by the unfolding mystery (ies).

There are at least 3 plots interwoven to make a complex story. First, the investigation of a murder of the last of the world-famous Ouellet Quints (the idea borrowed by the author from the actual celebrated Dionne quintuplets born in Ontario in 1934). Secondly, people in the Surete du Quebec are seemingly out to get Gamache. And underlying the plot against Gamache some very serious, even dangerous,  government corruption is discovered. A lot going on here, you might say, and quite a few secondary characters to keep track of.

I will rate it a 4; I liked it well enough to give Penny another chance. If I come to be a fan, I won't run out of her novels any time soon!