Liars and Saints

 There is so much that I dislike about Louise Penny's work. First, I think the novels are too long. I think a thriller should be around 200 pages; I'm thinking of the kind of book that Ruth Rendell wrote in her prime. Additionally, the amount of "telling" exasperates me. We are repeatedly told that Armand has a great love for Reine-Marie--but it seems to me that Penny can't make the effort to imagine what this great love actually looks like. Contrast this couple with Guido Brunetti and his wife Paola. We see Guido and Paola frequently disagreeing--with sharp, memorable dialogue. There is no question that Guido and Paola love each other, and that Paola is a three-dimensional character. Finally, the repetitive use of fairytale "clues" is irksome. I know that Penny isn't trying to be anywhere near the ballpark that could be called Literary Realism. But, in the new book, she has a scientist leave a river rock near a tree so that someone might say, "...

 There is a scene in "The Cruelest Month" that nicely illustrates what I dislike about Louise Penny's writing. Armand Gamache, the hero, is watching his little grandson. The grandson walks too close to a pond. Armand stands to correct the error, and his wife stops him. "Don't," she says. "That is your son's job now." Touched by this feedback, Armand kisses his wife, in a reverent way. "Thank you," he whispers. He doesn't say the words; he whispers them. All of this reeks of bullshit. Who says a grandparent can't save a small child from drowning? And, in a marriage, even a functional long-term marriage, might one spouse be tempted to say to the other, in a peevish tone, "I wasn't actually seeking any guidance here" --? I sometimes have to take a few deep breaths so that I don't throw the physical object, the book, across the room. That said, I like Penny's use of an omniscient narrator. This feels old-fash...