'Intelligent, warm, familiar, gripping, and completely immersive. Ambitious in geography and scope, I relished every paragraph. The Gamache (and Three Pines) we love, but utterly fresh.

SUPERB' WILL DEANRelentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in the small village of Three Pines in Quebec. Someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. When he finally answers the call, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.

That's only the first in a...