After what seemed that odd interlude (Five Red Herrings), Harriet Vane is back on the scene in Have His Carcasse (this is a legal phrase rather like habeas corpus I gather--you need a body to prove the murder, and for a long time there isn't one in this book). Harriet's point of view (mostly) dominates the narrative, allowing readers to learn more about her character and appreciate the source for her ambivalence regarding Lord Peter's ever so chivalrous attentions.

I'm far from alone in my admiration of Louise Penny's latest (eighth) Armand Gamache tale. Indeed her books regularly win prizes and climb to the top of bestseller lists, so I've only joined the choir. Penny has been producing mysteries since 2006, not long really, but turning one (sometimes two) a year. Her first was pretty good, but they they do get better and better--characters deepening and plots becoming more wily and thematic. And I love what she's doing with the genre . . .