cover image A Trick of the Light

A Trick of the Light

Louise Penny, read by Ralph Cosham. Macmillan Audio, , unabridged, nine CDs, 12 hrs., $39.99 ISBN 978-1-4272-1320-4

In Penny’s latest whodunit in this popular series, Chief Insp. Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his assistant, Insp. Jean Guy Beauvoir, are back in the small village of Three Pines. This time, the sleuths are called to the home of artist Clara Morrow when a corpse is discovered in the garden. Veteran Penny narrator Ralph Cosham—whose British accent in no way hinders him from lapsing into Québécois when necessary—reads with a mellow baritone that is an ideal match for the thoughtful Gamache. Additionally, he succeeds at creating voices for other continuing characters, including the sardonic, psychically damaged Beauvoir and the hapless but undaunted Clara. Cosham also ably renders the emotional art crowd, the envious painters, the fiercely competitive gallery owners, the snarky, self-styled critics, and an angry and ancient poetess whose late arrival ends this beautifully performed audiobook on a perfect note. A Minotaur Books hardcover. (Aug.)