The tenor of this book is quite different from most of her other work. No murder to start out with just a husband who doesn’t come home on the appointed date.This book revolves around the non-reappearance of one of the two characters I most dislike in this series- Peter. Separated from the long-suffering Clara, the other character I dislike, he fails to return by the agreed upon date and Clara being Clara waffles around until Gamache pries it out of her.
Gamache has now retired to Three Pines and almost reluctantly sets out to search for Peter, joined by Jean-Guy, Clara, and Myrna the search for Peter reveals that he has been searching, too.
Lacking the familiar magic of books set in Three Pines, Home nevertheless kept me reading as Gamache and friends travel around trying to follow in Peter’s footsteps, trying to discover what he is doing.
I know that a lot of readers are/were unhappy with the end but I wasn’t. Sometimes things just happen, there is never a guarantee of a logical explanation and people don’t always act in a logical way. In this case I think Peter’s fate was already set, no matter the distance I don’t believe he would ever have returned “home”. I’m not sure he had truly figured out what/where/who home was.
I was left wondering if Clara would take any responsibility for her part in the end and I hope that Penny addresses this in a future book.
If you are expecting the familiar you won’t like this one, it’s a much different book from the usual but if you can read it as an interlude, a road trip to a disastrous end it might work.
I had never heard of the Garden of Cosmic Speculation before this and I want to thank Penny for the introduction to this most beautiful and fascinating place.
38 Caliber Reviews 