Louise Penny is no ordinary mystery writer. Her 2021 novel, The Madness of Crowds, reaffirms her depth and her fearless approach to world-shaking issues.
The story begins post-pandemic, when a renowned statistician comes out with her ‘resources versus needs’ assessment commissioned by the Canadian government. Though repellent to most, Professor Abigail Robinson’s conclusions are gaining a following. Her logic rests on the idea that the needs of the many out-weight the needs of the few.
Since resources are limited, in the face of crises like the covid pandemic, she reasons that the only logical thing to do is save them for the strong. She suggestions compassionate deaths for the old, the sick and dependent.
An attempt on her life at a nearby university, where Robinson is presenting her findings, pulls Inspector Gamache and his entire Three Pines community into the national debate. If you’ve read Louise Penny, you know that this includes the Gamache family, artists, recluse academics – one in particular known as the asshole saint – and a famous foulmouthed poet named Ruth.
Two themes emerge. One is centered on an 1841 study on crowd psychology titled Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The second theme is less self-evident. The hundredth monkey theory describes a tipping point in crowd behavior, the point at which a minor trend becomes a sweeping movement.
While answers to the attempted assassination emerge, everyone – including Professor Robinson and her entourage -- come together in Three Pines for a New Year’s Eve party. It’s a beautiful snow-shrouded setting, a stone fireplace warming the lodge, kids performing skits, an abundance of food, drink and good cheer. The murder happens just before midnight.
Without telling you who did it or even who the victim is, I can tell you that the murder pulls in dark themes from the past concerning a Canadian psychiatrist who was hired by the CIA to experiment with mind control techniques on his own patients. Reportedly the CIA still uses his discoveries today – torture, sleep deprivation, electric shocks and hallucinogenic drugs – to interrogate suspected terrorists.
There are no shortages of suspects in the murder. They include Inspector Gamache’s own son-in-law and a visiting Nigerian woman named Haniya who was just nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Surviving years of brutal rape and torture as a girl, she survived by killing her captures, saving the other victims. She then created a network of women-owned businesses to help them thrive.
Gamache ponders the notion of love as motivation for murder. He considers the sins of the past rising up to poison the present. One of Ruth’s poems comes to mind:
And then shall forgiven and forgiving meet again,
or will it be, as aways was, too late?
The amazing cover art and the double-page panel art inside are definite bonuses to this engrossing novel.
·
84 views
Yorum yapabilmeniz için giriş yapmanız gerekmektedir.