A Great Reckoning Read online

  It’s not all bad. Far, far from it. There’s clarity, the simplicity of living in the moment and knowing what really matters. Kindness. Company. Gentle care. We laugh a lot, and God knows there’s plenty to laugh about. And there are moments of deep peace and contentment.

  I have never met a braver man. When diagnosed he told me he wanted to be open about it. To tell people. Not to hide away, ashamed. Afraid of being judged or shunned or embarrassed.

  Michael has met his dementia with humor and acceptance. With gratitude for all that he has. While he can barely speak anymore, he smiles all the time, even in his sleep. He loves massages and food and friends. And Bishop, our golden. And he loves me. I can see it every day.

  Michael and I have found more kindness since his diagnosis than we ever knew existed. From friends. From strangers. But also from colleagues. From publishers and editors and publicists. From booksellers and librarians. And readers.

  Like you.

  You can imagine that writing a book in the midst of all this could not be done without help. Physical and emotional.

  First among the people who have made A Great Reckoning possible by lifting so many other weights is my assistant and great friend, Lise Desrosiers.

  I honestly, Lise, don’t know what I would do without you. I love you.

  Thank you to her husband, Del, for coming over when things fall apart. To Kirk and Walter, our first friends out here and foundations in our lives. How many times have you lifted my spirits and actually lifted Michael when he’s fallen? Strong backs, strong hearts.

  To Pat and Tony, for caring so deeply and being there over so many years. And for taking care of Bishop when needed! Thanks to Linda Lyall, who manages the website and sends out the newsletter and does so much more.

  Thank you to Andrew Martin, my U.S. publisher at Minotaur Books, for removing the deadline from the books and not forcing me to write. Or to tour. For understanding and always sending love to his buddy, Michael. Thank you, Andy. Thank you to Hope Dellon, my astonishing editor, for being a great friend and writing just to see how we’re doing. And for making A Great Reckoning so much better with her notes and insight.

  Thank you to Sarah Melnyk, my publicist, for holding the world at bay and not insisting I do anything unless it works for Michael and me. To Paul Hochman, who built the virtual bistro at the Minotaur site, and who knows from experience what we are living.

  Thank you to Jamie Broadhurst in Canada, for being a friend first and colleague second.

  Thank you to my UK publishers, Little, Brown—and David Shelley and Lucy Malagoni.

  To Louise Loiselle, of Flammarion Québec, for stepping back while stepping up.

  Thank you to my agent, Teresa Chris, for starting and ending each conversation by talking about Michael.

  Thank you to Michael’s incredible caregivers, Kim and Rose and Daniel. Without you, our lives would fall apart. How do Michael and I even begin to thank you for your care, your kindness? Treating Michael as a beloved brother/father/friend. Bless you.

  To Dr. Dominique Giannangelo, for always making time for us, in person and over the phone. For being steady and calm and compassionate.

  To Tony Duarte and Ken Prehogan and Hilary Book. Hilary, by the way, also provided advice on some legal issues in A Great Reckoning. Thank you, Hilary!

  It would be impossible to list all the friends and neighbors who have stood beside us, but let me mention just a few. Lucy and Danny, David and Linda, Joan, Cotton, Wilder, Cheryl, Deanna. Michael’s sister Carol in London. Richard Oliver. Rosemary and Rocky and Honora. And our beautiful, magical new village of Knowlton, Québec. Merci, mes amis.

  To Michael’s sons, Michael and Victor, who phone and visit whenever they can. And while their father can no longer tell them he loves them, they see it in his eyes and know they are loved.

  And to my family who visit and write, Rob and Audi, Sarah, Adam, Kim, Mary, Charlie and Roslyn.

  Every day when I tuck Michael into bed, I bend down and whisper in his ear that he is a wonderful man. Handsome and kind and generous. Brilliant and brave. I tell him how proud I am to be his wife. And that he is safe. And he is loved.

  Then, over the past year, thanks to all the people I mentioned here and so many others not mentioned, I’d go into the living room and sit down at the laptop. And be in the company of my other friends. Armand, Reine-Marie, Clara, Myrna, Gabri, Ruth, et al.

  I wrote A Great Reckoning with the peace of mind that comes with knowing I too am safe and loved. And not alone.

  Noli timere, dear friend.

  ALSO BY LOUISE PENNY

  The Nature of the Beast

  The Long Way Home

  How the Light Gets In

  The Beautiful Mystery

  A Trick of the Light

  Bury Your Dead

  The Brutal Telling

  A Rule Against Murder

  The Cruelest Month

  A Fatal Grace

  Still Life

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  LOUISE PENNY is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of eleven previous Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (five times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.

  Visit her on Facebook or at www.louisepenny.com. Or sign up for email updates here.

  Thank you for buying this

  St. Martin’s Press ebook.

  To receive special offers, bonus content,

  and info on new releases and other great reads,

  sign up for our newsletters.

  Or visit us online at

  us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup

  For email updates on the author, click here.

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Louise Penny

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  A GREAT RECKONING. Copyright © 2016 by Three Pines Creations, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.minotaurbooks.com

  Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

  Cover photograph © Kesterhu/Shutterstock

  Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following:

  Excerpts from “Half-hanged Mary” from Morning in the Burned House: New Poems by Margaret Atwood. In the U.S.: Copyright © 1995 by Margaret Atwood. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. In Canada: Copyright © O. W. Toad. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited.

  Excerpts from “Herman Melville,” copyright © 1940 and renewed 1968 by W. H. Auden; from W. H. Auden Collected Poems by W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Penny, Louise, author.

  Title: A great reckoning / Louise Penny.

  Description: First Edition.|New York: Minotaur Books, 2016.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016019580|ISBN 9781250022134 (hardback)|ISBN 9781250022127 (e-book)

  Subjects: LCSH: Gamache, Armand (Fictitious character)—Fiction.|Police— Quebec (Province)—Fiction.|Murder—Investigation—Fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Traditional British.|GSAFD: Mystery fiction.

  Classification: LCC PR9199.4.P464 G74 2016|DDC 813/.6—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016019580

  e-ISBN 9781250022127

  Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].

  First Edition: August 2016

 

 

 

-->