How the light gets in, by Louise Penny

One way to get through a spell of dark zero degree days is to curl up with a cup of tea, or something stronger, and the next in the Inspector Gamache mystery series.  It’s even colder in the small Quebec village of Three Pines in this book, which returns to the Inspector to this hidden-away refuge, but the warmth of the characters makes the snowy scene comforting rather than depressing.   The genius of this author is both that you don’t tire of her cast of characters – cranky poet Ruth and her pet duck, the odd couple of Oliver and Gabri, Myrna the bookstore owner, or of Gamache himself – and that her plots continue to be intriguing and unusual.  Often you learn a lot too – about Gregorian chant, or computer hacking, or curling.  I found this ninth book to be her best yet and wonder at its end how she will continue the series.  I will be “désolé’ when I’m finished with the last book.  404 pp.