A Great Reckoning
By Louise Penny. (Minotaur Books, 389 pages, $28.99.)
In the 12th installment of this Canadian mystery series, we are reintroduced to Armand Gamache, a revered police inspector recovering from a near-mortal injury during a scandalous crime of betrayal.
The wounded inspector has retreated to off-the-map Three Pines, a colorful village where Penny's familiar characters continue to add depth and enjoyment to her storytelling.
Nearly mended, at least physically, Gamache has agreed to take a break from solving crimes and is assigned to command the elite Surete police academy, a school steeped in corruption where instructors are molding future cops to be greedy, sadistic and dirty.
Gamache is determined to change the course of the institution, but he chooses a risky approach by allowing the worst of the bad apples to continue in their roles at the academy, and even bringing in a startling new instructor. (The shrewd inspector has his reasons.)
And what's a detective series without a murder? We quickly receive a high-profile one, the nature of which will reveal much about the dark culture nurtured behind closed doors at the academy.
At the heart of the tale is a map, discovered quite by accident, of the sleepy Three Pines. The map's significance and origin are kept out of our reach until the final chapters, but its cryptic message drives the story.
This novel delivers answers to perplexing puzzles that have left readers hanging in previous installments — about Gamache, about Three Pines, and about the love-hate relationships in his life that conspire to both comfort and destroy him.
"A Great Reckoning" is surely a richer read for followers of the series, tying up loose ends in a satisfying way. Yet Penny's engaging characters and richly layered plot inspire exploring the earlier installments for those new to the popular saga.
GINNY GREENE
Night Sky With the Naked Eye
By Bob King. (Page Street Publishing, 255 pages, $21.99.)
Before there were telescopes, people looked into the night sky and saw what everyone saw. Telescopes, however, made it possible to see details, colors, shapes, galaxies. The naked eye now came up short, good enough for wishing on a shooting star. This guide to the night sky revisits the possibilities within the curious gaze, walking us through a variety of activities to make us more familiar with the sea of stars.
King, photo editor at the Duluth News Tribune, uses amateur-friendly directions for finding constellations, such as this for Hydra the Water Snake: "Starting at Regulus, mark off two fists to the west (right) to find a compact group of five "small" stars." The type is kind of small; you'll want a camper's headlamp with you. But there are lots of photos, charts and diagrams to aid in the sky search.
Besides learning the stars, there also are tips for seeing auroras, iridium flares, the International Space Station, planets, even a "woman on the moon," all with our own eyeballs.
Bob King will sign books at 2 p.m. Nov. 19 at Barnes & Noble Har Mar Mall in Roseville.
Kim Ode
