Finishing cleaning house

By Ande Jacobson

A Great Reckoning, is the twelfth mystery novel in Louise Penny’s Gamache series. The story picks up the thread of what’s next for Armand Gamache, formerly the chief inspector of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec. After cleaning the corruption out of the service itself and the top leadership and retiring to Three Pines, there’s one piece left – the academy that trains new recruits. Recently (in the previous book), Armand saw first-hand the caliber of recent academy graduates and was appalled at their lack of decorum and their dangerous and violent attitudes. After receiving numerous offers from various services that value his expertise, he chooses to accept the position of commander of the Sûreté Academy. His first task is to adjust the staff, letting some of the old guard go, and ushering in some new faces. He keeps a few of the old guard though, including a few potentially dangerous individuals. Unfortunately for him, one of them turns out to be far worse than he knew.

He also countermands that questionable staff member and after much consideration reverses a cadet rejection to accept a young woman into the academy that many think shouldn’t be there. Amelia Choquet, a Goth adherent with a questionable history and a bad attitude joins the incoming class of cadets. Unbeknownst to all, Armand has a connection with her that remains a mystery until very late in the story, and while she seems to be everything the academy is not, she’s also brilliant and quickly rises to the top of her class.

Armand also seeks out an old friend who betrayed him in a devastating way. Armand looks past the betrayal to hire him to teach at the academy anyway because he’s a brilliant tactician. He seeks out Michel Brébeuf who had been one of his closest and trusted friends since boyhood until the rift occurred when Michel was seduced by the corrupt forces within the service. Rather than arresting him and sending him to prison, Armand instead spared him that humiliation and let him disappear off to seclusion. While Armand hadn’t forgiven him, he recognized that he needed him at this point.

The dangerous faculty member was Serge Leduc, a man in league with the worst of the worst, and a legend at the academy known as The Duke. Once the term begins, Armand discovers that Serge had taken several students as mentees including four that stand out for some reason – third years Jacques Laurin and Huifen Cloutier, and freshmen Nathaniel Smythe and Amelia Choquet.

Armand also brings Jean-Guy Beauvoir with him as his second in command. A theme that runs through the series is the closeness that Armand and Jean-Guy share, even more so since Jean-Guy married Armand and Reine-Marie’s daughter Annie.

From the outset, Armand assumes command and makes some sweeping changes at the academy. Many of the second and third year students are extremely resistant to the changes having been conditioned by the old guard to distrust Armand, but he gains some supporters over time. At the same time that he’s making changes at work, back home in Three Pines, an intriguing discovery is made. While combing through documents that had been found in the wall of the bistro, the village regulars discover a curious map. An oddity of Three Pines is that it doesn’t appear on any official map of Québec, and yet this map, though rather quaint with some odd touches such as a snowman and a pyramid that seem grossly out of place, clearly shows where the little village is. Armand sees the opportunity to engage the four cadets that came to his attention and possibly solve the longstanding mystery of why Three Pines is missing from any official documentation. He gives them an assignment to investigate the map the villagers found, and while he gets some resistance, particularly from Jacques, they begin.

Then tragedy strikes back at the academy when Nathaniel finds The Duke dead one morning. Armand suspects that there might be a dangerous connection, so he uses the assignment to sequester the cadets in Three Pines during the subsequent investigation after they have been questioned by the homicide team.

This is when the story takes off and runs in multiple directions at once. The map mystery is a curiosity on its own, but strange things start happening back at the academy, and what’s uncovered during the murder investigation startles even the most experienced agents.

Penny takes readers on quite the journey in this one. It’s a coming of age story for the cadets, especially the four engaged in the extra assignment. It’s a murder mystery with multiple moving pieces. It also closes the loop on the scandal that had wrecked the service as a whole, and Armand makes some connections that had he not been in his position at the academy might never have come to light. The dangers grow through the story, and the investigation leads to numerous unexpected places. The story also provides a bit of an education. The map is thought to be related to orienteering, a rather obscure sport.

Parts of this story are darker than many of the previous books examining the seamier side of humanity and what might drive somebody to commit horrific acts against others. It also examines how friendships can morph over time. There are very few relationships that are completely unconditional, and fear is a powerful motivator for compliance in dangerous situations. Penny shows how that can be used by somebody in authority in an uncomfortably calculating way. Fortunately, Penny also brings to light how one so coerced can be redeemed, their dangerous proclivities tamed and reformed. As such, while a bit dicey along the way, the mysteries are solved in a satisfying, and more importantly, comfortable way.

Penny also lays the groundwork for what happens next when Armand lets slip that he looks forward to working with the graduating cadets soon. It’s clear his stint at the academy is for a specific purpose and limited in duration. What’s next for him is quickly revealed early in the subsequent book. One thing that was clear when he retired several books ago was that despite his personal demons, he wouldn’t stay retired for long. He’s too good at what he does to be content in the quietude of Three Pines full time, but it is a wonderful home base.