The People We Hate at the Wedding

The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder (2017) 324 pages

Paul and Alice are siblings whose older half-sister, Eloise (who lives in England) is going to get married. Dysfunctional relationships abound in this novel, partly because Eloise's father is quite wealthy, and she has had advantages that her half-siblings have not. Additionally, Paul and his mother are estranged because Paul thinks she disrespected his father after his death by removing all signs of his existence. Paul, who's a social worker, is also struggling with his job, working for an unorthodox researcher. Paul's pompous partner, Mark, seems interested in adding a third party to their relationship, which is another stressor for Paul. Alice has her own issues, being in a relationship with her married boss, plus having a lot of emotional baggage from a previous relationship. Their mother, Donna, has her own somewhat bleak world.

By the time we finally meet the bride, we're already at page 164 and worn out from watching the antics of the others, ready for a more stable person! Eloise might be more stable, and perhaps means well, but watch out!

The story is a strange mingling of the comical and the sad. Do the hilarious bits make up for the painful ones? You'll have to be the judge.

All the Devils Are Here

All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny (2020) 439 pages

In this book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, Armand and his wife Reine-Marie have gone to Paris to visit with both of their children and their families as they await the birth of their daughter Annie's child. Armand's godfather, Stephen Horowitz, a elderly billionaire, joins them in Paris, too. After a family dinner in a restaurant, as they walk back to where they're staying, Stephen is hit by a van, which zooms away. The family feels sure that the attack was targeted, but the police in Paris are quite skeptical of Armand, who they view as merely a country bumpkin from Canada.

As Armand, his wife, and their son-in-law Jean-Guy (who is now working at an engineering firm in Paris, having left the danger of police work in Montreal) investigate the hit-and-run, while visiting Stephen (who remains hospitalized on life support), the mystery deepens. Stephen's own background seems somewhat questionable. And Armand's strained relationship with his son Daniel is also visited, as is the friendship of Armand with Claude Dussault, the Prefect of the Paris police. In this story, it's imperative to know who's on what side, and that's impossible to know!