The Murder Stone

The Murder Stone is a mystery novel by the Canadian writer Louise Penny, published in 2009. It is one of her books about Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, and it takes place away from the village where most of the series is set.

Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie have a habit of coming to the Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated and expensive hotel in the Quebec wilderness, to mark their anniversary on the first of July. This year they share the place with the Finney family, whose members have gathered for reasons of their own, and among that family are Peter and Clara Morrow, the artists from the village of Three Pines.

The reunion turns out to be about more than a family occasion, and one of the Finneys is killed. Because he is staying in the house rather than arriving to investigate it, Gamache is drawn into the case while everybody, guests and staff alike, is still on the premises, and the novel works through a group of relatives who have spent their lives arranging their relationships around money, obligation and old grievances.