A Rule Against Murder is an interesting book that takes nearly half of the story before any action happens. Once again our hero Chief Inspector Gamache, while celebrating a wedding anniversary, is at the right place at the right time. The characters are believable. The storyline is believable. Four stars were awarded to this book. ( )

Penny writes mystery novels but just barely. The book works at a pace all its own. The writing is great as usual but be prepared for a leisurely walk through the pages. ( )

A member of a toxic family is killed (in a seemingly impossible way) while on vacation at a lodge where Inspector Gamache is staying. Will he be able to figure out how it was done? And to piece together enough background information on everyone to determine who amongst the many suspects committed the fatal deed? I like the psychological aspects of these stories and the depth of the characters’ lives. There is such a human quality to them & humor as well. I am really enjoying the series. ( )

Penny is a marvelous story teller, and she goes deep into the characters in a constructive, even educational and insightful way.
A creative new murder weapon was employed.
An excellent read. I don't want to tell more because it will be more fun for you to discover them yourself.
I had early-on read one or two of Penny's later Gamache novels, and I liked them well enough to go back to the beginning and read them in order. In this novel, I discovered one of the arguments for reading them in order, which again I can't share without exposing valuable information. But I hope you'll try reading them in order.
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This was the first one of the Gamache mysteries where I couldn't narrow the pool of suspects down even a little bit. It was a bit disconcerting, to be honest, but didn't take away any from the enjoyment of the book. ( )