Even though it’s spring in the ordinarily tranquil village of Three Pines, there is a strong element of tension and fear present throughout this story.
The book takes us from the present to the past and reveals details about how Inspector Gamache first met Jean Guy Beauvoir, now his second in command and son-in-law. That case involved murder, and two orphaned children who had already witnessed true horror in their young lives.
Now in the present day, those two children are now grown up, and have come to Three Pines. Fiona is there at Inspector Gamache’s invitation, and her brother, Sam, has come to help her celebrate an achievement of hers. Meanwhile, in the village a hidden room has been found in one of the local buildings, as well as a letter from many years ago describing the fear felt by the stonemason who had built the barricade to that room. When the room was opened, many curious things were found in that hidden room, some old, and surprisingly, some new. But was something truly evil freed as well?
This author expertly brings together elements from actual history as well as imagined events into a gripping story that was truly difficult to put down.