The power of integrity, friendship and love act as strong counterweights to human failings. Gamache once served as mentor to a fellow agent who is also his son-in-law. Jean-Guy Beauvoir internalized the powerful values and practices of his former patron, and now passes on a trinity of questions to ask oneself before speaking. Stop and think: "Is it true? Is it kind? Does it need to be said?" Like the three tasks in a fairy tale, this practice carries strong medicine.
A surprising twist in this story reminds readers that things are not always what they seem. Police must avoid wrongly assuming an unpleasant and alcohol-damaged personality is also a criminal. And as humans, we must beware of the temptation to project our own darkness onto others.
In this book, as in contemporary society, families are divided by continents, by violence and by abuse of alcohol. In the midst of a catastrophic flood, politicians continue their infighting and worry more about how the decisions they make will affect their careers than how they can best save lives and property. The use of social media to deliberately form opinion about art and about the police is intended to enrich the opinion makers at the expense of creators and peace officers. Twitter users ruthlessly exploit the fact that social media is "less about truth than perception" and "people believe what they want to believe."
In the midst of all this, it is reassuring to think, along with Gamache, that "things are stronger where they're broken." Arising in Louise Penny's atmospheric Quebec, this idea reminds readers of the words of the late Montreal songwriter Leonard Cohen: "There's a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
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