Glass Houses by Louise Penny
– Yet again Louise has written a mystery with Armand Gamache that I find both
wonderful and irritating. As I have done with recent reviews of her books I
shall divide this review into multiple posts.
Glass Houses opens with a
new surprise on the status of Gamache. He is neither the Chief Inspector of
most of the series nor the Commandant of the Surete Academy as he was in the
last book, A Great Reckoning. He has
been chosen to the head of the Surete – the Chief Superintendent.
In
that position he is deeply concerned about the never ending war on drugs, more
specifically, the increase of opioid trafficking in Quebec. He fears the war
has been lost but wants to undertake a dramatic blow against the traffickers.
As
he plots his strategy one of the most enigmatic characters in contemporary
crime fiction appears at a Halloween party and then the next day on the village
green in Three Pines. Gamache describes the figure as it first presented itself
at the party:
One guest wore
heavy black robes down to the floor, and a black mask. Gloves, boots. A hood
was pulled up over his head.
On
the green it stands unmoving and unspeaking and unresponsive to any questions.
Its presence is unsettling to the villagers who want it removed but the figure
has done nothing but stand there. Gamache tells his fellow villagers they
cannot arrest a person for standing in a public place. Gone at night it appears
each morning.
The
figure is a malign presence. For most it represents Death come to pluck someone
from Three Pines.
Regular
visitors to the village startle Gamache and the residents with their thoughts
that it is a cobrador, a figure from Spanish culture.
The
current cobrador del frac is a form of debt collector. Dressed in a top hat and
tails they silently follow a debtor day after day, all day long, until the debt
is paid. Their presence shames the debtor into paying what is owed.
Yet
they advise him that there is a more ancient cobrador whose costume is the same
as that worn by the figure still standing in the village. The medieval cobrador
appears to “follow people who had done something terrible …. for which they had
not been held accountable”. The original cobrador acts as a public conscience.
But for whom has it come within this quiet village? Every villager could recall
personal misdeeds for which the cobrador could have come.
Tension
builds and builds and then there is a murder in the local church with the body
found by Madame Gamache. The cobrador is clearly involved. The victim is
dressed in the robes of the cobrador.
The
investigators of the Surete swarm to Three Pines for another murder
investigation.
Of
the villagers only the “demented” poet, Ruth Zardo, plays a major role in Glass Houses. Through the series she has
been a form of conscience in the village. With her insight into the human
psyche and wicked tongue she can recognize the presence of conscience.
Through
the book winds the testimony of Gamache at the trial of the alleged murderer
half a year later. In an unusual form of twist for Louise we know neither the
name of the cobrador nor the person charged with murder as the plot proceeds. I
did not identify either of them until they are revealed by Penny.
The
brooding presence of the cobrador commands the plot. I shall not forget the
cobrador.
(My
next post involves what frustrates me about the book.)
