Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie… . The book’s title is a metaphor not only for the month of April but also for Gamache’s personal and professional challenges—making this the series standout so far. –Sarah Weinman Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat. It’s spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life… When some villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a seance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil—until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death, or was the victim somehow helped along? Brilliant, compassionate Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec is called to investigate, in a case that will force him to face his own ghosts as well as those of a seemingly idyllic town where relationships are far more dangerous than they seem.